Earthbound 3 Mother 4 Beginning
by Enterprise F
Summary: Ness and his friends celebrate Ness's thirteenth birthday and the end of the school year, only to be whisked off on another grand adventure.  Once again, the fate of the world is at stake.  Part 1 of 4
1. Chapter 1

Legal Disclaimer: Earthbound/Mother is copyright Nintendo. I do not own it. Nintendo does. It and all of the characters in the games were created by Shigesato Itoi. This story is not for profit.

Earthbound 3/Mother 4

Chapter 1

In the early 1900's, a shadow descended upon a small town in rural America. A young married couple vanished mysteriously from their home. The man's name was George, the woman's Maria. Two years later, just as mysteriously as he had vanished, George returned. Upon his return, George began a strange study all alone. He never told anyone where he had been or what he had done. As for his wife, Maria… she never returned.

Eighty years later, a race of aliens launched an invasion of Earth, led by a mysterious alien named "Giegue". During this invasion, the aliens caused various disturbances, such as possessing various household appliances and objects, controlling animals, and kidnapping the parents of the children in Youngtown. Three heroes, Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd, with help from Pippi, and later Teddy, helped fight back the alien invasion. During the fighting, it was revealed that their leader, Giegue, had been raised by Maria, George's wife, who had become a powerful psychic, herself, during captivity. Eventually, Giegue was forced to detach himself from Maria and prepare the invasion of Earth in order to make sure that the psychic power known as PSI did not spread to the planet. Using a song that Maria sang to Giegue as a lullaby when he was young, and taught to them by Maria's psychic ghost, they were able to drive Giegue away. But Giegue was not destroyed, and vowed that he would get his revenge.

In the 1990's, Giegue returned. However, he was no longer Giegue, but now Giygas, his true name being revealed. In the town of Onett, a young boy named Ness went to investigate a meteor crash behind his house with his next door neighbor, Porky Minch, who wanted Ness's help in finding his younger brother, Picky. They soon encounter an alien insect from ten years in the future named Buzz Buzz, who warns them that unless he is stopped, Giygas will destroy the universe in ten years. Buzz Buzz is the only known survivor of that alternate future. He then tells Ness that three others are destined to help him stop Giygas from destroying the world. Ness then embarks on an adventure to save the Earth, meeting the other members of the Chosen Four, Paula Polestar, Jeff Andonuts, and Poo, the Prince of Dalaam, along the way. The Chosen four get themselves into various dangerous, and sometimes humorous, situations, but are eventually able to stop the invasion. Using a Phase Distorter built by Dr. Andonuts and Apple Kid, they go into the past to confront Giygas in the Cave of the Past. There, they realize that Giygas is no longer a physical being. In order to become the strongest being, Giygas cast out all of the good inside of him, turning him into the Universal Cosmic Destroyer Giygas in the process, as well as destroying his own mind. The Four find and engage Giygas, who is now being assisted by Porky Minch. After Porky turns off the Devil's Machine, Giygas's full power is unleashed. Having no other recourse, Paula prays for assistance from everyone they met during their travels. Eventually, the prayers of Paula, the Chosen Four, everyone they met, as well as the player, are able to destroy Giygas. Thus, the destruction of Earth was averted, but Porky was able to escape the battle and is still out there somewhere. And there are still the other members of Giygas's race alive as well. And they may come to finish what Giygas started…

It was the year 200X and it was a beautiful Spring day in Onett, a small town in rural America. The children were home, celebrating the end of school. Backyard barbeques were already being lit and sandlot baseball games were in the process of being played. The sounds of laughter and play echoed all throughout the hills of the town. For Ness, there was an added source for joy, for today, he was celebrating his thirteenth birthday. Not only that, but all of his friends were coming to celebrate with him. Over the three years since he and his friends had defeated the Universal Cosmic Destroyer, Giygas, Ness had kept in contact with each of his close friends, but the only one he met on a daily basis was Paula Polestar. He was looking forward to seeing Jeff Andonuts, and Prince Poo of Dalaam once more. Since Poo was Prince of Dalaam, he had only managed to actually see Poo during his birthday parties.

What made this day really special for Ness, though, was that his father was on leave and he was here to celebrate Ness's thirteenth birthday in person. His father was a military liaison to an advanced arms manufacturer under the auspices of D.A.R.P.A. and that meant that his father was often away on business. As such, they did not get to see him as often as they would have wished.

Since the end of the War Against Giygas, things had changed a bit. First off was the fact that his father had finally paid off the loan, with interest, to Aloysius Minch. It turned out that the loan was only a few thousand dollars, rather than the one hundred thousand dollars that Aloysius had claimed. Not long after the adventure, and the loan was paid, the Minches moved to a place near Summers. Ness had not heard anything from them for the last two years, which was fine by him. While Picky, Porky Minch's younger brother, was nice enough, his parents were still jerks of the highest order, in his mind. Ness hoped and prayed that their immaturity never rubbed off onto Picky the way it had with Porky.

It was about noon, and Ness was rummaging around his room for his baseball bat and glove, when he heard a male voice call from the back yard, "Hey, could you give me a hand with this?"

Ness jumped at his father's call. He rushed down the stairs and out the front door of their house. On his way he passed his mother and his eleven year-old sister, Tracy. He hurried around back and ran to assist his father in setting up the grill. His father looked like an adult version of Ness. He had short, black hair, bluish-gray eyes, and was almost six feet tall.

Ness's father noticed his son and said, "Thanks Ness, I know it's your birthday, but could you go and get the charcoal bags for the grill. I'm busy setting up the tables and benches."

"Sure thing, Dad," Ness replied eagerly. He did not mind doing this little chore. He knew that his parents wanted to have everything ready for when his friends arrived. With his mother and Tracy preparing the steaks in the kitchen, it fell to Ness to assist his father. He went into the garage and got out some bags of charcoal for the large grill. They were setting up everything outside so that when the guests arrived, everything would be ready. They still had some time, though. His friends and their parents would not arrive for at least another couple of hours. This would give Ness a chance to play a game of baseball with some of the kids in the neighborhood before the guests arrived. Earlier in the day, he and his family had celebrated his birthday alone. As for his birthday presents, Ness had received a baseball bat signed by the legendary Hank Aaron from his father, which Ness had promptly placed in his room under lock and key. His mother had given Ness a new yellow and purple striped t-shirt while Tracy had given him a new Gameboy Advance. After assisting his father in preparing everything, Ness rushed off into the hills to look for a game to join in.

He quickly found a game that was about to begin, but where one of the teams was one player short, and he joined the team that was short one player. He joined the team and was set to bat in the clean up spot and was set to play center field. Ness felt it almost unfair that he was playing against the other local kids, many of whom were younger, but he really wanted to play. While playing the game, he also blocked out his psychic abilities, most of which were based around telekinesis and energy control, so he would not have an unfair advantage over the other kids. Still, he was quite capable for his age, even without any psychic enhancements. He hit a homerun on his first at bat, on the first pitch. The ball sailed over the homerun boundary and sailed at least three hundred feet. The other kids, some of who were Ness's age, looked at him in astonishment. Ness looked sheepish as he rounded the bases. He did not want to draw any attention to himself during the game.

Later in the game, at the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and Ness at the bat, Ness tried to hit another homerun, which would win his team the game, only to whiff on the swing. This was odd since the pitch was a hanging curveball. He also noticed that it was getting harder to concentrate on the game, and the opposing pitcher. On the next pitch, which was in the dirt, he swung again, and again he missed. Ness stopped for a second and wondered what he was doing. He stepped out of the batter's box and glanced around the field and into the stands. Behind the fence, he saw a lovely blond girl in a pink dress staring back at him, smiling. Ness mock-scowled back at his friend, Paula Polestar. Ness quickly realized that Paula had recently arrived and was teasing him by interfering with his ability to concentrate by using her telepathy. She probably did so because she felt that Ness's psychic abilities gave him an unfair advantage, which he did not disagree with. Ness smiled back at Paula in challenge and turned to concentrate on the game. He went back into the batter's box and grinned. Now that he was aware of Paula's presence he would be ready. Mighty Casey would not strike out this time around. The pitch soon came. It was a nasty curveball that rose into the air and dropped three feet almost upon reaching the plate. Ness zeroed his attention on the pitch and he swung at the ball. He made contact and hit a line drive into left field, which fell in for a hit. He quickly ran around the bases and managed to slide into second with a double. It did not matter, though, since all three of the base runners scored, netting Ness's team the win.

Paula playfully scowled from behind the fence as Ness came over to her at the end of the game. She did not expect, however, to hear a voice right next to her comment, "Looks like there _is_ joy in Mudville today, for Mighty Casey did not strike out."

Paula turned to her left and saw Jeff Andonuts sitting next to her. He wore a white shirt under a green jacket and pants. He also wore eyeglasses. He was dressed as if he were still in school except for the silver helmet with antennae on his head. Jeff turned and smiled at his friend. "Looks like this new invention of mine works after all."

"What is it?" Paula asked inquisitively, hiding her scowl, and trying not to sound too sly.

"It's a prototype Counter Telepathy Helmet," Jeff answered, tapping his helmet, almost oblivious to Paula's intentions to try to find a way around its effects and play with his mind as punishment for his interference. "With this, I can block out an opponent's telepathic abilities. The problem is that it won't block out other abilities of an opponent, at least not yet, and it will also block an ally's telepathic abilities. I've still got some tweaking to do to fix those flaws."

"Well that limits its uses," Paula said flatly.

She turned and saw that Ness had arrived. She gave him a strained smile as he walked over to her and Jeff.

"I'll leave you two alone," Jeff said casually as he turned to make his exit.

Ness tried to get him to stop, but Jeff was long gone. Jeff called back to his friend and said, "It's best for you two to handle this on your own."

"Get back here you coward!" Paula shouted at him, looking very ready to storm off after him, which only prompted Jeff to begin to run.

"What was that about?" Ness asked Paula, unaware of why Paula was yelling after Jeff.

"That scientific whiz kid just built a helmet that can block my telepathy," Paula growled.

"So _that's_ why I was able to concentrate when I hit that game-winning double," Ness chuckled. "I'll have to thank him for that," he added quietly. Paula gave a soft grumble.

The two then headed back to Ness's house. The walk back was uneventful, and Ness did little talking. Fortunately, Paula had calmed down a bit, though her frustration was now directed more towards Jeff than Ness. Upon arriving at Ness's house, they found that Jeff had already gotten back and was talking with some of the guests. They also noticed that the other guests had arrived as well. Dr. Andonuts, still dressed in a white lab coat was conversing with Ness's father while Paula's parents were having a conversation with Ness's mother. Ness quickly found his final companion from his last adventure in the War Against Giygas standing near two older adults that Ness figured to be his parents. Poo was still dressed in a white gi and had what Ness thought of as a warrior's braid. Upon seeing Ness and Paula, Poo went over and offered his greetings.

"Hello Ness," he said with a slight bow. "It has been far too long."

Ness extended his arm and Poo took it and they shook. "Thanks for coming," Ness told his friend.

"Thank you for inviting me," Poo replied, bowing.

Ness could see the air of royalty in Poo, but unlike stereotypical princes, and other royalty when speaking to the "lower born" he was not haughty or arrogant. Instead, he was very regal and formal, which had always been his nature. In fact, Poo had never considered the fact that Ness and his friends were not royalty. To him, they were friends. His respect had been taught to him during his extensive martial arts training. Paula quickly went on ahead to mingle with the rest of the guests. Turning to the two adults next to him, Poo said, "Mother, Father, this is my friend Ness. We went on an adventure three years ago to save the world from a being called Giygas."

Ness bowed before them, as was proper. "It's nice to meet you," Poo's father said graciously. His mother echoed her husband's sentiment and gave Ness a soft smile.

Ness replied, "The pleasure is all mine." He gave a bow, hoping that it was the right thing to do.

Poo then turned back to Ness and, indicating his parents, said, "As you know, these are my parents, the King and Queen of Dalaam."

Ness practically stared at Poo's parents for a moment. His father was clearly Asian and he wore a robe, similar to the gi that Poo wore. His mother, however, seemed to be Middle Eastern in descent. She wore a regal purple sleeveless dress that covered her practically from her neck to her ankles. It was obvious to Ness that they were royalty due to how they carried themselves. Ness soon noticed that Poo's Master and Star Master were missing. He suspected that they were back in Dalaam, overseeing things while Poo and his parents were away. After a few moments, Ness went to talk to some of the other guests.

The ceremony was everything Ness could have wanted it to be. He got to see some of his friends from his previous adventure. He noticed that Apple Kid, now a famous inventor, was present and talking with Dr. Andonuts, as well as a woman who looked to be much younger than Dr. Andonuts, but as it turned out, was only a few years younger than the inventor, standing next to the doctor. He also noticed two Mr. Saturns, head-like beings with two stubby feet, a big, round nose with one strand of hair jutting out from the top of their heads, and what looked to be two whiskers on either side of their cheeks, mingling with Dr. Andonuts and Apple Kid. Even Frank Fly had managed to make it to the party. While he was scanning the crowd, he noticed a young girl in a glittering red dress that he did not recognize. He could not put his finger on it, but something stood out about this girl, besides her dress, something strange. He did not know whether or not this was good or bad. He paid her no more heed and continued to talk with his friends.

Ness spent the rest of the couple of hours or so before dinner talking with Paula, Jeff, and Poo, catching up on what was going on in their lives. He learned that Poo had just acquired his driver's license a few months ago. However, he did not have a car since Dalaam was a far away land on top of a cloud, and the residents Dalaam did not utilize technology very much, save for extreme emergencies, even though they had access to just as much technology as the people of America or those of other developed countries. As for Jeff, he had learned a lot from his father over three years of study and training. He thought that it was also good to see his parents together once again. Ness did not know what that meant at first, but Jeff told him that Dr. Andonuts's job often called him away from the family. He also told Ness that the woman next to Dr. Andonuts was his mother. As for Paula, Ness knew very well about Paula's martial arts training. After having been kidnapped twice during Ness's adventure, she wanted to make certain that she would never be a burden on any of her friends ever again. Ness had told her that she had never been a burden and had been instrumental in their success, but she was adamant about training in the martial arts, and Ness supported her decision, as did her own parents, which surprised her a great deal. It had done wonders for her, both physically and mentally. She advanced through the ranks quickly and was even scheduled to take her black belt test soon. Paula stated that she was quite confident in her ability to ace it.

During the time, Ness's friends each gave him a birthday present. Paula was the first to present a present to him. She gave Ness four tickets to an Onett Stars baseball game. Ness was flabbergasted at the gift. "I hope you like it," Paula said, praying that Ness found the gift satisfactory.

"Like it?" Ness gasped. "This is magnificent! Thank you!" He then went over and hugged Paula. Paula returned the hug, smiling kindly.

Jeff was next. He presented Ness with a rather large box. It read, _to Ness, from Jeff and Dr. Andonuts_. Ness opened it and he found a baseball. Upon further inspection, he found that it had been autographed by Henry Aaron.

"Wow, a ball that was autographed by Hank Aaron! How did you find this?"

Jeff replied, "Finding a ball autographed by Henry Aaron wasn't too hard to find. Finding one that was a homerun ball was a bit harder. I found this during a sale of Atlanta Braves memorabilia during a trip to Atlanta with Mom."

"Thank you," Ness told him. He then shook Jeff's hand, not wanting to embarrass his friend.

Last was Poo's gift to Ness. He handed Ness a platter with a dome cover over it. "I know that this is not baseball related," Poo began, "but I wanted to give you something that was a surprise."

Ness took the platter and set it down. Upon opening it, he saw that it consisted of a steak with mashed potatoes and vegetables. "It's called a Brain Food Dinner. In terms of healing ability, it is even superior to a Brain Food Lunch. It is also made to order. I knew that you loved steaks, so I asked my mother to make this for you, since she's more familiar with Western foods. I helped, though," he added quickly.

Poo then got out a smaller box. "And now, for a more traditional birthday present," he said offering the box to Ness. "Happy birthday Ness," he told Ness. Ness took the box and opened it. Inside was a pendant shaped like a star. "It's a Star Pendant," Poo explained. "They are rare items that I found during an extra adventure that I found myself on. It can help protect you from Fire, Flash, Freeze, Paralysis, and a host of other conditions."

Ness remembered these from his last adventure. He knew how difficult it had been to find such an item. For Poo to give such a valuable item like this in addition to the Brain Food Dinner meant a lot to Ness. He knew now that the four of them were closer than some blood siblings were.

It was not long before the first of the steaks were ready. Ness quickly put his presents over on the counter, with his other presents, leaving the ball next to his bat, and went over to the grill to get his steak. He liked his cooked medium rare. He then got the sizzling steak and put it on his plate. He then proceeded to search for a place to sit. Since it was a cookout the partiers sat wherever they could find a seat and ate their meals. Ness ate with the first group, those who wanted steaks. Poo, being from Dalaam and raised on a different diet, was not very fond of the western food that was served. Still, when it was his turn, he ate the chicken and rice that Ness's mother had made particularly for him and his family at her son's request. When he tried it, he found that it was surprisingly good and promptly thanked Ness and his mother and praised her cooking.

Not long after they ate, the four decided to go out and explore the hills a bit. Ness had heard from one of the partiers that there was a baseball game going on between the neighborhood kids. He and the others quickly went out so they could watch the game.

The trek up into the hills was uneventful until they came across a police barricade. Near the barricade was Captain Strong, Onett's stern, yet fair Police Chief, and several of his fellow officers. Upon noticing Ness and his friends near the barricade, he walked over to Ness and said, "Something happened up in the hills not too long ago. Reports are still coming in, so we don't know much about what's going on. I'm sending my men to investigate. You should go back home and enjoy your cookout. This is police business." He did his best to not sound condescending, thinking that while adventurous, Ness would rather be at the cookout than doing the police's work.

"I could go up and investigate for them," Ness offered. "I heard that there was a baseball game going on up in the hills and was already on my way. It shouldn't be anything to worry about."

"I'm not so sure," Captain Strong countered. "I haven't heard of any sandlot baseball game going on. Who told you about the game?"

"One of the guests at the party at my house," Ness responded.

Captain Strong then turned away for a moment and pulled out a hand radio. Pushing a button on the side of the radio, he spoke into the radio speaking in a strong voice, "Team One, report."

The radio crackled and a voice was soon heard. "This is Team One, Captain. There's nothing here. Seems like it was a false alarm."

"Okay men," Captain Strong said, speaking into the radio, "Pack it up and get back to the station." Then, turning to Ness, he said, "When my men clear out, you can pass. If you find anything, please inform us." He then handed Ness a business card with his phone number. "If you run into trouble, we'll be glad to help you out." He then grinned. "I've gotten stronger since our encounter three years ago."

Ness returned Strong's grin and said, "Don't worry, sir. I think we can handle things."

Captain Strong then waited for his team to return and when they had, he lifted the barricade, allowing Ness and his friends to pass. The four soon made their way into the hills. On the way, they passed Lier X. Agerate's house and proceeded to where a meteorite had crashed three years ago without incident. It was beginning to look like Team One may have been right. So far, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Not even a stray dog had attacked, or even been spotted.

The four soon found a makeshift baseball diamond, but no sign of a game, save for a wooden baseball bat that was lying on the ground near the diamond. Ness went over and picked it up, noticing that it was surprisingly well crafted, especially for a bat at what amounted to a little league game. "Hey guys," Poo called out from near a bench on the first base side of the diamond, "You'll want to come see this."

The others went over and found that the diamond had recently been used. There were tracks in the dirt, as well as signs of recent mud on the bases. That was not unusual for the aftermath of a baseball game. What was more suspicious was the fact that there were small holes in the infield that were about the width of baseballs and were at least a few inches deep. Not only that, but there was a series of holes, and they seemed to lead somewhere. The Four glanced towards each other questioning each other on what made the small holes.

"So what are these holes?" Paula asked. "They don't look like something that is the result from playing a baseball game.

"No they don't," Ness responded, looking down at the holes, studying them carefully. While he did not say anything, he felt as if he had seen these marks before. He just could not remember from where.

"These holes look like tracks," Jeff commented casually. He turned to the others and said, "And by the look of it, it seemed to have been made by a spider-like mech." Ness immediately thought of Porky Minch's Spider-mech that he had used in their battle three years ago in the Cave of the Past. Could Porky have returned to wreak his revenge on Ness and his friends? Jeff looked to see where the holes led. He pointed deeper into the hills. "That way," he told them. "The tracks lead deeper into the hills." The others then proceeded to follow the tracks.

The massive carrier saucer and its escort saucer-like fighters slowed as they approached the blue planet filling the window before them. Onboard the ship, many aliens and robots waited in excitement for their time to be called to action. The fighter bays were loaded with countless flying saucers, each able to hold three or four crew members. Each saucer had the firepower to annihilate the heaviest of Earth tanks with contemptuous ease as well as having shields that were able to withstand at least one hit with a standard air-to-air missile; and these were only the saucers designed for atmospheric combat. Countless giant robots and mecha also lined the walls of the cargo bays. Many of these mecha could lay waste to entire battalions of enemy soldiers and were more than a match for any Earth tank. On the bridge of the ship, located on the very top of the saucer, the humanoid feline-like "captain" of the alien ship stood on a step, with his chair behind, staring down at the other aliens who were attending their duty stations, each wearing a silver suit with an emblem over the left, upper part of their chest. There were more than a dozen crew members on the bridge, some of them wearing golden uniforms, rather than the silver of the creatures that the captain was staring at. Sitting in a chair next to the alien was an alien similar to the ones crewing the stations on the bridge of the saucer. Unlike the others, his silver suit sported spikes on its head and shoulders. Unlike the Starmen, who had what appeared to be tentacles coming from their shoulders, passing for their arms, the captain of the ship had normal arms and hands with fingers, as well as legs and feet, though the fingers and toes looked to have small claws on the end, similar to a cat. Alien had white skin and was tall, slender, with a thin abdomen. Framing the side of his head were two large ears that looked cat-like, but were sticking out the sides of his head, and had what appeared to be a wisp of white fur on their ends. The alien also had a tail, which was quite effective at bashing any opponent that made the mistake of trying to attack the alien from behind. Unlike the aliens at the workstations, the captain wore no clothes to speak of. However, he also had no visible genitalia or openings on his body either, save for his mouth and two nostrils that sufficed for the alien's nose. The alien looked out the view port and saw the blue and green planet filling the view of the screen.

"Achieve a geosynchronous orbit over the Earth at their North American continent," the alien commanded the helmsman.

"Yes, Master," the Starman located at the helm replied in a machine-like voice. Despite sound of their voices, though, Starmen were completely organic. Only a few of them had any cybernetics to speak of, the Starman Deluxe standing next to the alien captain being one of them, and that was merely due to injuries suffered on duty. Once the order had been carried out, he turned to his tactical officer, who was in a golden uniform, and ordered, "Activate the stealth systems onboard this ship and tell our escort fighters to do the same. We don't want to be detected by the Earth's early warning systems. It is unknown at this time whether or not they have anti-orbital defenses, but their technology has progressed rapidly in the last century. Let's not take any chances. I don't want any of their nuclear weapons to take out our invasion forces before we can land."

"Understood," came the response from the Starman Super. The "captain" then began to relax for a moment. The time was coming. He was finally going to avenge his first loss at the hands of the humans.

"Master Giiiiyyygaaaas!" came a shrill, young female voice from the turbolift elevator doors. The alien winced as the young voice sounded. He turned and saw his young apprentice, a young, barely teenage female alien of his own species. She looked like a younger, female version of Giygas, except for the fact that she wore a form of black lipstick on her lips, had a pink bow on the top of her head, and had rounded breasts on her chest. Like Giygas, she too wore no clothing. And just like Giygas, she did not need to in order to remain decent by societal standards, human or otherwise.

"What is it Saiyg," he asked with a low growl, letting the young newcomer know how annoying her interruption was.

"I heard we were close to Earth!" the young alien said excitedly and boisterously. "Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" she asked quickly, folding her hands as if in prayer for them to be close to their target.

"Yes," Giygas said sternly.

"Yaaaayyy," Saiyg cheered.

"But we're still assuming a geosynchronous orbit over our target and activating our stealth ability in order to make sure that we are not detected by the Earth's sensors," Giygas added, almost smirking, knowing the effect it would have on his apprentice.

"Ohhhhhhh!" Saiyg moaned, lowering her shoulders in a shrug at the new information. "Come on, let's get this thing over with. I have a hot date tonight with a very handsome apprentice of Giegue. It's not like the humans are gonna be hard to kill or anything."

Giygas made no comment. He knew of her late night dates with other apprentices, and even members of other species, though he had not told her that he knew. Giygas did not approve of her dating habits. He wanted Saiyg to focus on her studies more, and males less. She had amazing potential and a ton of enthusiasm. All he needed to do was to point her in the right direction and get her to be more enthusiastic about her studies. Once that happened, he felt as if Saiyg would even be able to surpass him one day. And that day would not have been as far off as many would have thought. One thing that did bother Giygas, though, was Saiyg's more sadistic tendencies towards the races that were slated for destruction. She took too much pleasure in the destruction of life, especially for a child. In addition, she also had made a habit of underestimating her opponents, something that Giygas had tried to extinguish in her, for Giygas had firsthand knowledge of just how dangerous humans had the potential of being, especially if their backs were to the wall.

"I also hear that humans have cool music," Saiyg blurted, interrupting Giygas's thoughts. "You were with them for a while, is it any good?"

"I was only with them for a few years, and I was very young then." Giygas closed his eyes, reflecting back on his time with Maria, who had raised him for nine years. He had grown closer to her than he was to his own birth parents, but had been forced to detach himself from her when his father had decided that it was time to make Giygas a PSI Lord. To that end, his father had ordered him to fight Maria and kill her. His battle against her was the one regret that Giygas had. Later, he had even offered one of her descendants, Ninten, a place with him, thus sparing his life, during his fight with Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd. Ninten had refused, and they had used a song that Maria used to sing to him as a lullaby to defeat him and drive him away from Earth. Despite seemingly detaching himself from Maria, Giygas doubted that he would ever forget her. "Besides," he continued, "we brought them onboard the ship with us. I didn't go down to Earth."

"Oh."

After a moment, Giygas spoke again. "As for their music, yes, there are some varieties of it that are, as you would say, cool. But there are others that are terrible."

"No doubt the kinds I like are the ones you say are terrible," Saiyg chuckled.

Saiyg was right about that, Giygas was forced to admit. He gave a knowing smile. He then turned to his apprentice and said, "Go to the landing bay and prepare yourself for landing. We'll be leaving once everything is in order.

"Alright!" Saiyg shouted with enthusiasm, pumping her fist into the air. With that, she bolted back into the turbolift and pressed the button to the landing bay.

Turning back to the Starman Deluxe that was now standing next to him, he said, "I'll be in the cargo bay giving the final briefing and making sure everything is ready. Keep me updated on anything that happens while I'm down there."

"Understood, Master."

With that, Giygas turned towards the turbolift doors. He entered the lift and went down to brief his troops on the plans for their invasion of the Earth.

Back on Earth, the four teens were making their way through the hills of Onett following the tracks left by what may have been a massive spider of some sort. While they were exploring and following the holes that looked to be tracks, they began to hear the sound of machinery, as well as the echo of what appeared to be footsteps. They followed the source of the sound and found themselves coming to a hill. There, the tracks mysteriously seemed to stop. The four cautiously continued to make their way forward. After walking around the small hill, they found not only the source of the tracks, but also of the sound, for standing in front of them was a massive spider mech, flanked by two smaller spider-like drones, each with one red eye that Ness was certain housed a weapon of some kind. Inside the mech was a man who was about thirty years old or so. He was morbidly obese and he had blond hair that almost covered his eyes. From what Ness could tell, he was wearing a white t-shirt and blue shorts. Ness glared at the unexpected guest. He did not need to hear the man speak to know that it was none other than the coward and traitor, Porky Minch. Porky Minch had been one of Giygas's right hand men, and was one of the few who joined Giygas voluntarily without any form of coercion besides the promise of power and survival. Both Paula and Jeff gasped in surprise at the sight of Porky, while Poo merely scowled.

"What, nothing to say?" Porky mocked, his voice sounding over the loudspeakers built into his mech. "I must say that I have been looking forward to this moment for quite a long time." The last bit was said with an arrogant sneer. He was seemingly quite confident in his ability to defeat Ness and his friends.

"What do you want, traitor?" Paula called out in a loud, hard voice, which was uncharacteristic of her.

"I want revenge!" Porky answered in the form of a scream. "You four took everything away from me! I helped the Happy Happyist Cult, and you crushed it! I had a cushy gig with Mr. Monotoli, and you toppled him! I was Giygas's right hand man, and you killed him and would have killed me too if I had not fled! Now I have nothing! Even my own family doesn't talk to me anymore!"

For a moment, Ness wondered how bad things really were for Porky. He could not imagine living without his family and friends. He would have even felt sorry for Porky if he had not known that Porky was completely willing and free in the choices that he made with regards to joining Giygas. He was not influenced by any statue or by the evil aura of Giygas. He was completely free to choose to either fight against Giygas or be neutral in the fight, but he had chosen to serve Giygas, and he paid for that choice. Ness had no regrets, and no sympathy for him. Ness then gripped his bat and readied himself for battle. Paula then drew out a frying pan as well and stood next to Ness. Jeff drew a laser pistol from underneath his jacket and took aim at Porky, and Poo stood before the mech, ready to fight.

Porky merely laughed at the four standing before him. "This won't be like last time," he mocked. "This time, _you're_ the ones who are gonna die!"

With that, Porky Minch and the two spider-drones charged the four teens. The second battle against Porky had begun.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Porky began the battle by charging towards Ness and his friends. The four teens scattered in all directions as he rampaged towards the party, making sure that he would not be able to draw a bead on all four of them at the same time. They stopped a dozen yards away and considered their options. In their last battle with Porky, he had not demonstrated any ranged attacks or weapons aside from discharging a stinky gas that had not effects besides weakening them on offense and defense. However, given the fact that Porky would not have faced off against Ness and his friends unless he was confident in his ability to win the fight, the teens did not discount the possibility of Porky having ranged weapons. However, Porky was not willing to use any of his ranged weapons yet, if he had them. Pushing a button on the console of his mech, he ordered the two spider drones to engage the Chosen Four. The two drones immediately emerged from their cover behind Porky, something that almost made Ness laugh, and targeted Paula and Jeff, while Porky charged towards Ness. However, the spiders did not escape the notice of Poo. He immediately used Shield Omega and raised a shield over the entire party. The spiders red eyes retracted and revealed what appeared to be two energy cannons. The cannons of the spider drones immediately opened fire on Paula and Jeff, spraying blue energy fire towards them. A distinctive low-to-high pitch whine sounded each time the energy cannons fired. The energy fire splashed harmlessly against the shield that Poo had raised over the entire party, causing it to flare for an instant, before being returned to their sources of origin. The reflected energy bolts struck the two spiders, managing to inflict damage to the spiders, but the energy bolts were not powerful enough to destroy the spiders, but the bolts had managed to hit and melt the cannons that had fired the bolts. As for Porky, after making contact with the shield over Ness's body, his mech was thrown backwards several yards. It landed with a thud, and threw up a large cloud of dirt and dust upon impact. There was a small trough plowed through the ground as he was forced backwards. Porky's shock at this turn of events was evident on his face.

"What the…How can you do that now?" Porky cried out in shock at the sight. "You aren't supposed to have your best techniques this early in the adventure!"

Ness smiled. Little did Porky know that even after the War against Giygas had ended, the four of them did not cease their training or studies in the slightest. They were even stronger now than they had been during the War, and they were beginning to learn new things about their psychic powers.

Porky still did not back down. _Okay_, he thought, _they have a Shield Omega up. That's bad for me since any direct attack I make will just be reflected back at me and/or hurt me instead. But I'm not out of options yet._ Porky quickly backed away a few steps and pushed a button inside his cockpit. Immediately, a front panel on the mech opened before the four. Emerging from that panel was what appeared to be a cannon of some sort. However, it was not a cannon. Porky sneered directly towards Jeff, "You can thank yourself and your father for this," he gloated.

With the push of a button, a beam of energy erupted form the mech, targeting Ness. Ness tried to move in order to avoid the beam, but the beam managed to strike him just as he hit his stride. The shield that Poo had placed over the party flared into existence as the beam struck Ness. However, it was not reflected back at Porky. The shield strained for a few seconds before it visibly shattered into millions of tiny energy fragments. A sound like glass breaking filled the air. The counter shield that Poo had raised over Ness was gone. Poo quickly checked to make sure that the shields over the rest of the party were still intact. After the sound of breaking glass echoed through the air three more times, he realized that their shields were gone as well. Porky began laughing like crazy.

"That's my Shield Killer for you," Porky laughed. Narrowing his gaze of Jeff, he continued, "I got the blueprints from raiding your Dad's lab, Jeff. Thanks to you, I can use this magnificent weapon to bring down your defenses. Waa ha ha ha ha!"

What Porky had not taken into consideration, though, was the fact that he did not have Giygas in the Devil's Machine backing him up this time. During that battle, Ness and Poo could not afford to use their most powerful psychic attacks, PSI Rockin and PSI Starstorm respectively, because they would also hit the Devil's Machine and that damage would be reflected back at the party at twice the original power. All Porky had brought with him were two spider drones, and unless he had a ranged weapon on his spider mech, then he was restricted to close combat, while Ness and his friends could strike from any range.

Porky realized the flaw in his plan when Ness's eyes began to glow. Porky was mesmerized and horrified at the same as he stared into Ness's glowing eyes. Ness stretched out his hands and a series of energy-based geometric shapes formed around them and began to orbit them. Porky began to snivel as Ness powered up his PSI Rockin, likely to its Omega level. After a moment, Ness unleashed the shapes upon Porky Minch and his stricken spider drones, the streaking shapes making sounds similar to shooting stars. The shapes collided with his spider mech and exploded in a massive display of light and sound. While the explosion only lasted three seconds, it seemed like an eternity to Porky Minch as he and his mech had to endure the full force of the explosion. He watched in horror as pieces of his mech began to, crack, melt and even vaporize under the brutal psychic assault. The spider drones disintegrated when the explosion reached them. Sparks erupted from various consoles inside the cockpit and smoke rose from the sparking consoles. Porky began to cry, praying that he was not electrocuted by a short circuit somewhere, killed by an exploding console, or by suffocated by smoke, for the cockpit of his spider mech was cramped to say the least. He soon felt himself, or rather, his mech, falling as the explosion eventually dissipated.

He breathed a sigh of relief for a moment after the attack had dissipated, briefly checking the status of his mech. The shield that he had built into the mech had held back much of the attack, allowing the mech to survive. While the Shield Killer had been destroyed, nothing else seemed to suffer catastrophic damage. He was about to smile when he saw a dozen blue orbs surround the oldest of the Chosen Four.

_Crap_, Porky thought,_ not again_. The next assault came from Poo in the form of PSI Starstorm Omega. This was almost as bad as PSI Rockin Omega in Porky's book. Rockin, at its maximum power, was slightly more powerful than Starstorm, but suffered from being all over the place in terms of the power of the attack at any given moment. Starstorm's attack power, while it, too, varied widely, it did not vary to the same extent that Rockin did. Poo also had much better control over the power of his attack than Ness. Porky tried to have his mech skitter out of the way as Poo unleashed his massive Starstorm barrage at him. He was not fast enough, for the first blue orb managed to score a direct hit on Porky's spider mech, the force of the impact sending the mech a few feet into the air, forcing it backwards. Then came another hit, and another, and another, and another. Twelve orbs had slammed into Porky's mech. Each impact brought a new lurching sensation to Porky as the mech struggled to hold against the massive power of Ness and his friends. The exterior of the mech began to look ragged from the two assaults. Sparks were erupting from various places inside, and out, of the mech. It was as if he were inside a Star Wars starfighter that had just been struck by laser fire. Porky began to cry as he realized just how powerful Ness and his friends still were.

It was almost a welcome relief when Jeff took his shots at Porky's mech. He fired a series of laser blasts from his laser pistol. While each attack had nowhere near the power of the previous two attacks, or the likely power of whatever psychic attack Paula would launch against him, it did manage to inflict damage on the legs of Porky's mech. With the first volley, the front left leg was snapped off. After another volley of shots were fired, one of the middle-left legs came off the mech. The mech, lurched forward and toppled to the ground. As a result, the mech was immobilized. But Paula had yet to launch an attack, and Porky dreaded what her attack would be.

His musings would be answered shortly, for Paula soon stepped in front of the party and stretched out her hand. On the end of her hand electricity arced between her fingers as she charged a psychic attack that Porky realized he had no special defense against. It was not long before he heard Paula give a loud cry, "PSI Thunder!"

Porky immediately knew that his time was up and he pulled on a red lever next to the seat in his cockpit. Immediately explosive charges detonated and forced open the cockpit of the spider mech. As the cockpit hatch flew into the air, small jets below Porky's seat fired, sending him into the air. He had just cleared the mech as the lightning bolts of Paula's PSI Thunder struck the mech shorting out all of its offensive systems. Sparks erupted from the consoles of the now empty cockpit. Lightning arced around the entire mech and sparks and flames shot up into the air like fireworks. Had Porky been in the cockpit when the attack connected, he would have been charred to a crisp within seconds. He quickly realized how fortunate he was to have ejected from his mech safely. As Porky reached the apex of his launch, a parachute opened and allowed him to glide safely back to solid ground, several yards away. Porky could only cry as his beloved spider mech, which had carried him through so many of his adventures, was now nothing more than a powerless dead weight good for nothing but cover. Porky had never been angrier at Ness than he was now.

"Why?" he managed to cry through racking sobs. "Why do you have to be so mean?"

"Hey, you're the one that attacked us!" Paula shouted back at Porky. "Why did you come here to attack us, anyway? We had no way of reaching you. You were safe."

Porky soon stopped sobbing, and glared at his nemeses. "I told you before," he growled in a low voice, "Revenge!"

His reason did not fall on sympathetic ears. He soon continued, "I had everything; money, power, even respect. But then you came along and stole it all from me!" Porky then made his way back to his dead mech. Ness and the others approached, weapons in hand. Ness, Paula, and Poo's eyes were glowing, a clear sign that they were ready to fight should Porky try anything. Lightning crackled between Paula's fingertips. Should Porky try anything, she would fry him before he got the chance to complete whatever it was he would try. Jeff also held up his laser pistol and trained it on Porky. Porky then quickly climbed into the cockpit of the mech. "Don't try anything stupid, Porky," Poo warned, his glowing eyes showing how serious he was.

Porky then turned to face the four and, much to their surprise, he grinned. That caused Jeff to train his pistol right on Porky's head, which was exposed since the cockpit's canopy was missing. "Don't you see," Porky laughed. "It doesn't matter what happens here. I'm still alive, and I always will be. I just came to try to kill you myself. I'm quite happy in the era that I've invaded. You, however, are stuck here, in the twenty-first century. I can go wherever I want, wherever I need. And there's nothing you can do to stop me! I think that I'll go to a new era to plan my next move, and to create my new empire! Wa ha ha ha ha! Come and get me loser! Spankety, spankety, spankety!" With that, Porky and his spider mech vanished into thin air.

Ness scowled. Porky had escaped them once again. What made it worse for Ness was that he knew that they had had him this time. Porky was in no condition to have been able to defeat them. They had even trashed his spider mech. But still, he managed to get away again. Ness knew that there would be one last battle against Porky Minch some time in the future, though. And he would be ready for him.

The Four were about to go to back to the house and their party when they heard a distinctive hum above them, and saw a shadow pass over them. The four teens looked up and saw the smooth, gray sheen of a flying saucer fly over them. It was large enough to hold a number of occupants, a dozen or so, Ness guessed. The saucer did not seem to notice the kids, for it continued on its way towards the heart of Onett. Ness's hair stood on end at the sight of the saucer, for Ness recognized the saucer as the same type of saucer that had been used by Giygas's followers during the War Against Giygas three years ago. When it was far enough away, he managed to get a glimpse of the bulb on its top. That cinched it for Ness. That was a UFO of Giygas's people. Ness turned to the others and noticed that they had similar reactions.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ness heard Jeff ask out loud. Jeff then turned to Paula.

"I don't know," Paula replied, still staring at the saucer, which was flying off at a leisurely speed. "I can't sense the pilot at all. That means that it could either be a probe of some sort, or the pilot is a psychic and is blocking my cursory scan."

"Can't you do a deeper scan?" Jeff asked.

"Yes," Paula answered. "But I would risk detection. There's still a chance that the saucer doesn't belong to Giygas's followers."

"I don't get how there could still be any followers of Giygas left," Poo interjected. "If any of them were alive, I think we would have heard from them by now."

"Not necessarily," Ness said quietly. "It's only been three years. If they were in another star system, and they don't have FTL communications, it could easily take a long time for them to know what happened to their master."

Jeff and the others were surprised at Ness's scientific knowledge. Ness did not think anything of it and said, "Still, we should find out where that saucer is headed. Let's go."

With that, the four began to follow the saucer at a distance, being careful to not be noticed. They only stopped by Ness's house to get bicycles in order to follow the saucer more quickly. That is, everyone except for Poo, who took this opportunity to train by running alongside the bikes. The four were surprised that their slight detour did not allow the saucer to get all that far ahead of them. After they had cycled for a few minutes, they noticed several animals blocking their path. The four stopped for a moment. Ness glanced over towards Paula, who focused on the animals for a moment before turning back to Ness, giving a slight nod. Just as he thought, the animals were possessed by an evil force.

It was not long before the animals, a group of snakes and some stray dogs attacked the four. Ness took charge and stood in front of the others. His eyes glowed and the animals simply stopped. Looks of fear crossed the animals' faces as they realized that Ness was far more powerful than they had anticipated. The animals were then scattered as Ness sent them flying in all directions. They landed ten yards away from the four and upon landing they all seemed to return to normal, as if whatever presence had possessed them fled at the demonstration of such power. The animals then either fled or merely watched as Ness and the others continued on their way. With that minor nuisance dealt with, the four continued following the saucer. "Okay, if that isn't the influence of one of Giygas's people, I don't know what is," Ness commented as they rode past the now normal animals.

The saucer that they were pursuing was beginning to pick up speed now. Ness also noticed that it took a turn left, to the east. Paula's eyes went wide as she realized that the saucer was headed in the direction of Twoson, her hometown. She said a prayer for the people of Twoson, that the UFO did not have any ill intentions for them or for anyone else.

The Four picked up their pace and they soon found themselves in the center of town. In the center of town, they were met by more than a dozen teenagers. Some of them, the Skate Punks, had skateboards. Others had pogo sticks. These had been referred to as Pogo Punks during their last adventure. Yet others had hula hoops. These were Yes Men Juniors. They were dressed in uniforms that covered their entire bodies, and for Pogo Punks and Yes Men Juniors, even their faces were covered. The Yes Men Juniors were dressed in blue, while the Pogo Punks were dressed in green. The Skate Punks wore brown pants and had a gray striped shirts and wore gray helmets. All three types of punks had a shark fin on top of their helmets or masks. Evidently, the Sharks were back in business. The Sharks had been a gang, formerly run by Frank Fly, that had been disbanded when Ness had defeated them and their leader, Frank Fly, three years ago. Frank had since gone on to become a friend of Ness's and get legitimate work at the local burger shop.

Soon, the punks parted ways and it was found that there was an older man leading them. Ness did not recognize the man leading them. One thing that stood out at him was the fact that the man had long, pointed ears, and wore a blue sleeveless muscle tunic with white pants. He carried a broadsword at his waist and he had a bow with a quiver of arrows slung over his shoulder. He looked to be quite strong, as his upper body was tightly toned and muscled. To Ness, the man looked like some sort of fantasy elf ranger. The "elf" also wore a hood over his head, and the hood also had a shark fin over it. Ness knew that something odd was going on here. Ness soon assumed a defensive pose.

"What's going on?" Ness asked. "I thought that the Sharks were disbanded three years ago."

The elf laughed, "Foolish peasant. The Sharks only lost their leader, Frank Fly, to the forces of good. There are still numerous delinquents in the city. All they needed was someone to organize under…me."

Ness turned to Paula and quietly asked, "Are you sensing anything strange from them?"

"Oh yes," Paula replied, turning to Ness. She then called the others over and whispered, "I sense a power coming from the new leader of the Sharks. It's _not_ psychic. If I had to guess, I would say it's some form of magic. He's definitely using some form of mind control on them. They are not completely acting on their own free will here." Paula then turned to Ness and said, "One more thing. The new leader of the Sharks isn't human. His world is completely different from ours. Its sky is more greenish in color than blue, and it has a much larger moon. I think that its moon may, in fact, be a planet."

"How strong is he?" Poo asked, wanting to know the tactical situation.

"He's no match for us," Paula replied.

Ness and the others then broke from the huddle and turned to face the gang that was assembled in front of them. Immediately, the Skate Punks rolled towards Ness and the others. Ness used his telekinetic power to send them flying into each other, letting them land softly on the ground. Soon, the Pogo Punks hopped their way towards the Four. Paula responded by unleashing a weak blast of PSI Thunder at the oncoming the Pogo Punks. The lightning struck the punks and arced across their bodies. The punks cried out as they were struck by the weak lightning and collapsed in a heap, but were otherwise uninjured. Paula also noticed that the brainwashing, or magic, was no longer affecting them.

"Everyone," Paula called out. "Lightning attacks neutralize the brainwashing of the punks!"

With that, she proceeded to use PSI Thunder of the fallen Skate Punks to release them from their brainwashing. The last to approach were the Yes Men Juniors. However, they were not such "yes men" when they saw their comrades get dispatched with such contemptuous ease. The Yes Men Juniors backed away at the sight of their fallen comrades. The elfen leader of the gang quickly drew his sword and said in a quiet voice, "Cowards."

He was about to stab one of the Yes Men Juniors, a girl oddly enough, but out of nowhere, the sword was stopped as Poo grabbed the elf's hand. "You treat your own minions as throw away troops and kill them when it suits your needs?" Poo asked in a low voice not even trying to mask his anger. With that, he thrust his palm into the elf's torso and sent him flying backwards into a trashcan ten yards away. Poo then used PSI Thunder on the other Yes Men Juniors to neutralize their brainwashing

"Why?" the girl, asked, gazing at Poo, amazed that her enemy would save her life despite her affiliation with a monster like the new leader of the Sharks.

The girl removed her mask and it was revealed that she had short, brown hair, was quite pretty, and young. She was likely no older than fourteen or fifteen. Poo then used a weak PSI Thunder on her in order to neutralize the brainwashing. He then proceeded to set her down gently. After he was finished, he turned and glared at the elf, his loathing for the being quite evident. The other members of the four did likewise.

"Humph," the elf grunted as he rose from the pile of garbage that was covering him after he had collided with the garbage can. "So you are powerful, after all," he commented nonchalantly. He then drew an arrow from his quiver and strung it to his bow. "But you won't survive your battle against me," the elf laughed.

He quickly took aim at Ness, rather than Poo, which surprised the older teen. "I guess I had better take out my competition," the elf laughed. "That girlfriend of yours is quite pretty," he commented, indicating Paula. He then licked his lips in a perverted fashion.

"This is your only warning," Ness said in a low voice. "Leave now. If you don't I won't hold back against you, at all." Jeff and Paula then fell in line next to Ness. They were eager to deal with this gang leader once and for all. Poo was still the closest to the elf, his eyes glowing a deep blue.

The elf just laughed. "If that's the way it's gonna be, I'll just have to take my prize by force." Then, leering at Paula, he added, "I was promised anything for dealin' with any psychics here. I just chose my prize." The elf grinned with eerie perversion.

Paula grinned in response. She was not the same girl she was three years ago. "Then bring it on," she answered in challenge.

It was then that Poo stood directly in front of her. "No, this monster's mine," he said in a low voice that made the hairs on Ness and Jeff's necks stand on end. "Anyone who forcibly takes control of children and throws their lives away when convenient has no honor."

The elf merely laughed. "Yeah, I'll give you that. But hey, I'm alive and my people, save for a select few, aren't."

"That's about to change," Poo retorted.

The elf laughed at the teen standing before him. "Not likely." The elf laughed haughtily again. "Courage, loyalty, honor; these things are for losers and fools who don't know any better." He notched an arrow to his bow and after drawing back on the string, let fly with the arrow, laughing at the psychic teen. "Dodge this, peasant!"

The arrow streaked towards Poo at blinding speed, much greater than the speed of a normal arrow. There was enchantment behind this arrow. Unfortunately, it was no match for the younger prince's psychic reflexes. Poo raised his left hand and casually caught the arrow. Then putting his right hand on the other end of the arrow, he snapped it in half. He dropped the two pieces of the arrow on the ground and he stared at the elf, his eyes glowing.

For the first time in the fight, the elfen warrior showed fear at the sight of the teen. Poo then stretched out his hands and lightning began to play across his fingers. Poo then grinned and said in a confident voice, "By the way, just so you know, I'm a prince."

The elf swore at that revelation and then began to chant a spell in an alien language. He was trying to conjure the power necessary to defeat the prince standing before him. Before he could finish the spell, however, Poo unleashed his blast PSI Thunder at the elf. The bolt of lightning blew a hole through the chest of the elf, while electricity arced across the elf's body, instantly killing him. The now dead elf the fell to the ground in a heap, a smoking hole now located where his chest used to be. Poo approached the elf, and bent over to take his broadsword. The elf would not be needing the blade anymore.

The Four then took the now cured youths to the police station in order to inform Captain Strong of what had happened and of the situation. He had been surprisingly lenient with them, letting each of the youths off with only a warning. Ness suspected that Strong had suspected that something had been controlling the youths. Just as Ness was about to leave, he saw a news report about a UFO flying over the hills of Onett. Ness recognized the house being shown on the television was his house.

He immediately went over to his friends and informed them of the situation. "Hey guys, there's a UFO over my house. We have to get back to the party right now."

The others quickly nodded and Ness, Paula, and Jeff mounted their bikes and they streaked back towards Ness's house.

Along the way, the four found another UFO saucer flying over Onett. This one was headed directly towards Ness's house. However, unlike the one that was headed in the direction of Twoson, this one seemed to notice the four teens. It immediately stopped as the four were following it and seemed to spin. Its underside opened and quickly revealed a gray science fiction-like energy cannon being held by a metal arm. It looked more like a gun than a cannon. Poo immediately raised a counter shield over the party as the craft fired its cannon. An orb of pink energy erupted from the cannon with a loud whine and impacted the shield, causing it to flare into existence. The bolt of energy was reflected back at the UFO's cannon. The pink glob of energy struck the cannon and destroyed it. The metal of the cannon warped and melted upon having the energy ball collide with it. Debris fell from the underside of the UFO as it soon turned once more and headed towards Ness's house, stripped of its weapon.

Upon nearing Ness's house, Ness saw no less than three UFOs flying over his house and yard. He and the others increased their speed, only to be stopped by men and women that appeared to be elves similar to the gang leader that they faced in town. The women wore either long, elegant sky blue gowns that covered them from neck to their toes, or something that more closely resembled a bikini. The men were more appropriately attired, wearing gold armor over their chests and legs, while their wrists were protected by gauntlets. The shirts they wore underneath their armor looked to be white. They elves were flanking a quartet of all too familiar foes. Ness recognized the silver sheen, the tentacle-like arms, and the visor of the Starmen all too well.

The Starmen quickly parted and revealed a Starman in a golden uniform, an individual that Ness recognized as a Starman Super. The Starman Super then stepped forward and called out to Ness and the others, "Your time is up, humans. You will surrender, or you will die with the rest of your people."

Ness's only response was to charge the Starman Super and take a swing with his bat at the leader of the squadron that had been sent to deal with Ness and his friends. Ness knew that if he used a psychic attack against a Starman Super, he would only have gotten it reflected back at him. However, the Starman Super could not raise a normal shield to counter his ability to bash him with his baseball bat, which is exactly what Ness did. Faster than any of the other enemies could react, both Ness and Poo closed the distance between themselves and the Starman Super. A single swing of Ness's bat was enough to send the Starman Super reeling backwards. Poo then followed up with a stab to the visor to make sure that the Starman Super was down for good before he continued on to fight with another opponent. He stabbed the body several times for good measure, and to ensure that the Starman Super was dead.

While the others may have been surprised by Ness and Poo's speed, it did not take them long to react to them. However, Paula and Jeff stayed back to cover their friends. Now that there was no reason to fear a PSI Shield Beta, which could reflect psychic attacks back at the user, Paula let loose with a blast of PSI Fire Gamma. A stream of fire erupted from Paula's hands and was unleashed upon a line of foes, mostly elves, that were running to engage Ness and Poo. The stream of flame engulfed the elves and within a second, they were nothing more than ashes. Meanwhile, Jeff began to target the four Starmen from range as well. It took a few shots from his laser pistol to fell a single Starman. Jeff began to wish that he had brought one of his more powerful weapons with him to the party. However, Jeff had not anticipated getting into a fight, so there was no use complaining about the current situation.

Back in the melee, Ness and Poo were dealing with the final two Starmen and the surviving elves that were closing in around them. Poo motioned for Ness to stay close as the surrounding enemies began to close in on them, each of the enemies grinning sadistically. Poo's eyes began to glow as he then called out in a loud voice, "PSI Starstorm!"

Immediately, dozens of blue orbs began to rain down from the sky around Poo and Ness. This was not the usual variation of the Starstorm attack, however, since his friend was close by, he was pretty safe. Upon striking the ground the stars dispersed, causing no damage to the landscape. The same could not be said for the unfortunate Starmen and alien elves that were struck by the orbs, however. Instead, the elves were practically disintegrated by impact of the stars. The Starmen fared a little better than their elfen comrades. They were still alive, but were in no condition to be able to survive a subsequent attack. Jeff quickly targeted the surviving Starmen and felled them with one shot each from his laser pistol. Upon the conclusion of the battle, Ness and the others then sped towards Ness's house.

Upon nearing the house, they saw that there was a battle going on all around the residence. Frank Fly was fending off an attack from what appeared to be a New Age Retro Hippy, parrying the Hippy's ruler swipes with his switchblades. The Hippy overextended himself and Frank quickly took advantage by sheathing one of his blades and punching the Hippy in the face. The Hippy fell to the ground, rendered unconscious by the punch, and hopefully cured of whatever brainwashing had been placed upon him. After the battle, Frank noticed Ness and the others coming and said, "Don't worry about me. I can hold my own here. The main strike force is out back. Your parents are helping to fight them. They need your help."

"When did this start?" Ness asked hurriedly.

"Only a few minutes ago," Frank replied hurriedly. "There are these weird aliens practically made of tentacles out back." Ness knew that Frank was likely referring either to Lesser Mooks or Mook Seniors. "There are also these spacemen in silver and gold suits," obviously referring to the Starmen. "But what was really strange was when these humanoid elves armed with swords and bows and arrows and mini-UFO's began to issue forth from the bigger ships. Not only that, but they were specifically targeting your sister and parents, Ness, as well as a few of the other guests as well, particularly Dr. Andonuts."

Both Ness and Jeff gasped at that revelation. Ness had not expected this at all. He had expected any retaliation from Giygas's followers to come after him and his friends directly, not go after his family. After all, he was the psychic, not Tracy. The Four raced around back witnessed what could only be described as a full-scale battle going on. However, several things in the yard were even more shocking than the alien attack. First was the fact a futuristic-looking soldier was present and helping to fend off the Starmen and their allies. This soldier was wearing power armor and was firing pulses from an energy cannon over his right arm. Ness quickly found that the soldier was shielding Tracy, his younger sister and the spitting image of his mother at the age of eleven, from the fire from several small toy-sized UFO's. Red pulses of energy erupted from the cannon on his arm, and smaller scarlet beams emerged from a pistol that Tracy was gripping tightly as well. Each beam and pulse felled one of the small UFOs. Ness noticed that several of the UFOs' beams managed to strike the soldier, but with each impact, a shield flared into existence, keeping the soldier from harm. Ness could hear the soldier's muffled voice crackle through as he spoke to Tracy.

"Stay behind me," he ordered the girl, his voice crackling through the microphone inside his helmet. Ness immediately recognized that the voice belonged to his father. His father was the futuristic soldier protecting Tracy. For a moment, he wondered what this all meant. The technology that was being used by his father was far in advance of anything that Earth currently possessed. But he quickly gathered himself and went over to help his father cover Tracy. His father looked over to Ness and called out, "Ness, there are several aliens inside the house." As if to accentuate his point, Ness heard the sound of a shotgun going off, as well as an alien squeal. "Your mother's in there!" Without a moment's hesitation, Ness made his way inside the house.

Meanwhile, Paula searched for her own parents, who were frantically trying to hold off two Lesser Mooks. Paula came to their aid with a blast of PSI Fire. The stream of fire engulfed the tentacled aliens and sent them ablaze. Poo quickly searched for his own parents, who were busy fending off a Starman. Poo's mother held an energy pistol in her hand and fired at the Starman. The Starman suffered a direct hit in his chest, a black scorch mark indicating where he was hit, but the blast only seemed to make him angry as he continued to charge her. Two more shots, however, were enough to fell the psychic alien. Poo's father, meanwhile, was busy fighting off two elfen warriors, one male, one female. The male elf tried to stab Poo's father with his broadsword, only to have it be parried by the sword of Poo's father. From the corpse lying at his father's feet, Poo suspected that his father had taken the sword from the unfortunate elf. Poo's father then took a stab at the male elf. The sword's armor-piercing tip managed to burrow through the clothing and armor of the unfortunate elf, and push through the body and pierce its heart. The male elf gave a muffled cry before being silenced by the stopping of his own heart. However, the female elf would not let the death of her mate go unavenged. She began to chant a spell, and moved her arms through the air until they were over her head. A ball of pulsing green energy formed above her hands. But before she was able to complete the spell by bringing down her hands, and the energy ball, a bolt of lightning slammed into her chest. The woman gave a cry as she flew backwards, electricity arcing across her body, a scorch mark burned through her chest. Poo's father turned to see his son standing there, lightning still arcing across his fingertips.

Meanwhile, Jeff had found his father near the now empty grill. He was using his Gaia Beam pistol to swat miniature UFOs out of the sky. He drew a bead on one of the UFOs and pulled the trigger. A scarlet pulse of energy was issued as the pistol gave off a whine. The pulse struck the small UFO and it was shattered into a thousand pieces. Jeff immediately went over to his father and assisted him in taking down the small UFOs buzzing around the house. They also took some shots from range at the surviving Lesser Mooks that were targeting the remaining guests. However, by the lack of diamondized guests, it appeared as if the Mooks were not using their glare very quickly. It could also be that they were trying to avoid the barrage of fire that was being unleashed upon them by Dr. Andonuts, Jeff, and others.

Inside the house, in the living room hallway leading to the kitchen, Ness was assisting his mother and King in dealing with two Lesser Mooks and some elfen warriors that had made their way into the house. The loud bang of a shotgun sounded and one of the elves that had cornered Ness's mother fell backwards, a large hole in his chest. King was dealing with his own elf, who was unable to keep himself from being mauled by the dog. That fight soon ended with King emerging victorious. Ness could sense King's satisfaction at his victory. Ness quickly launched an assault on the two Lesser Mooks, since their gaze could turn his mother into diamond. A single swing of his bat hit one of the Mooks, inflicting significant damage, and managed to attract their attention. Ness quickly charged injured Mook and finished it off with a second swing of his baseball bat. The second Mook decided to try to use PSI Freeze Beta on Ness. It generated a snowflake of freezing psychic energy above its head and directed it towards Ness. Ness deftly dodged the psychic snowflake as it detonated, creating a large block of ice in the center of the living room. Ness quickly swung his baseball bat and hit the Mook between the eye stalks. The Mook tried to respond by using its gaze to diamondize Ness, but Ness was too fast for him. A second swing took the Lesser Mook out of the fight permanently. Ness turned back just in time to hear another loud bang, and another elf fall down, never to rise again. That left one elf for the two of them to deal with. The elf tried to attack Ness, but Ness's mother merely aimed the shotgun and pulled the trigger. Ness covered his ears as the loud bang went off and the final elf had fallen.

After the fight had ended, Ness's mother and King came over to Ness. She checked him from head to toe in order to make sure that Ness was not hurt. After she was certain that he was okay, she told him, "There still seems to be some fighting out back. I'm going to go out and help them."

Ness was about to protest when his mother silenced him with a finger to his lips, "No buts, no protests. I'm not going to cower in here while the others are fighting outside. I'm going to face these monsters head on if that's what it takes."

Seeing that it was pointless to argue with his own mother, he proceeded to follow her back outside with King hot on their tail.

Back outside, Ness noticed the UFOs begin to fire on the guests outside. However, Poo had already raised a shield over the guests and the pink orbs of energy that the UFOs were unleashing on the guests were merely being reflected back to alien craft. The pulses impacted the cannons that had launched them and burned their way through the metal that made the cannon. On one UFO, the cannon was overloaded by the impact of the energy ball as it was about to fire a second pulse of energy down at the party. The cannon exploded, the explosion gouging a large hole in the UFO. The explosion rained down debris onto the ground and the house, damaging the tiles on the roof. The explosion inflicted catastrophic damage to the alien craft and it was no longer able to stay aloft. The craft came hurtling down to the ground, smoke rising from its underbelly, as it crashed into Ness's father's car, flattening the car in the process. Upon crashing, the front of the saucer was deformed and several explosions could be seen, heard, and felt as fallen craft came to rest on the ground, a mere shell of what it used to be.

Ness quickly decided that the best way to limit the damage inflicted by the UFOs, both in terms of any secondary weapons they may have possessed as well as in their crash landings, was to cause them to explode while they were high in the air. Ness and Poo quickly targeted the two remaining UFOs and powered their signature attacks, PSI Rockin and PSI Starstorm respectively. When the attacks were ready, they unleashed them upon the UFOs. Geometric shapes revolving around an invisible center streaked towards the closer of the UFOs while the second one was the primary target of the dozen or so blue orbs of energy that Poo had unleashed. The energy shapes struck the closer UFO and detonated in a brilliant explosion of light and sound. The lead UFO was vaporized by the explosion, and the second UFO, Poo's target, suffered extreme damage as well. That UFO was quickly finished off by Poo's Starstorm barrage. In a battle that lasted all of ten seconds before the UFOs were destroyed.

Ness and the others then breathed a sigh of relief. Ness and Poo went over to a bench to rest and catch their breath for a second before going to help the others start to clean up the mess that had been left behind by the fighting when they heard the whine of alien engines sound above them once again. A shadow quickly descended upon the block that Ness's house was on. Looking up, Ness and the others saw a large UFO, much larger than the ones that had been destroyed not all of thirty seconds ago.

"Great," Ness muttered. "Not another one."

This UFO was huge, almost twice as large as Ness's house. Upon looking at this UFO, Ness found that it was different from the flying saucers that they had faced earlier. This UFO looked like it was also taller than the others. There was a small observation tower on the top of this UFO. A hatch on the side of the UFO opened and a platform was extended from the door. Emerging from the craft was a feline-like humanoid alien that Ness did not recognize. The alien looked down at Ness and began to try to scan him. Ness tilted his head, and almost began to convulse, using every ounce of his strength to resist the scan. Paula soon came to his aid and raised a psychic shield over the party. Upon the raising of the shield, Ness began to calm down. Jeff and Poo also came over to check on Ness's condition and be there to heal him should he be in need of medical or psychic attention. They did not notice the alien's eyes widen at this unexpected turn of events; nor did they notice a second alien emerge from the craft and step out onto the platform.

On the platform, Giygas stared in amazement at what had transpired. This psychic had fought back against his scan. He had never heard of any psychic with that kind of power on Earth since Maria. In fact, he was wondering if this boy, who was being helped to his feet by his friends, was in fact stronger than Maria. He did not notice Saiyg emerge from the craft behind him.

"What are you waiting for Master?" she blurted out loud. "Finish them off already!"

Giygas was startled at the sudden appearance of his apprentice. He turned to his young apprentice and commanded, "Saiyg, get back into the spaceship. You have a date with a foreign land. You must lead that invasion force."

"Aw, how come?" Saiyg complained. She then looked down at the variety of humans that had been gathered below them. She then noticed Ness and his friends and her eyes went wide. Upon laying her eyes upon Poo, she squealed in delight. "WOW, he's hot!" she cried out in a loud voice. "I want _him_ as my next date!" she exclaimed, pointing a finger at Poo.

Giygas began to grumble. "You have work," he told her in a stern voice, not approving of her new interest in the young man standing below them. "Besides, I don't think he's interested in you."

"Why not?" Saiyg asked innocuously, fluttering her eyelashes in an effort to look as sweet, cute, and innocent as possible.

"Because he doesn't want his friends to die, and one of them will since that friend is a psychic. Besides, we have been tasked by Giegue to prevent the spread of PSI to the people of Earth." _But so far, the only known psychics on Earth have had some relationship to either George or Maria. These three are too old to be children of Ninten and/or Ana_.

He looked down at Ness and could definitely see the similarities between him and Ninten, particularly in terms of the hair color, baseball bat, and even in the style of clothing they wore. However, this new psychic was far stronger than Ninten had been when they had fought. He then noticed that Ness was preparing to launch a psychic attack should Giygas try something, another difference between Ness and Ninten. He quickly raised a PSI Shield Omega over the ship in order to protect it from Ness's attack. Ness quickly powered down the attack, as if sensing the shield. In fact, though, Poo had been the one to indicate that the shield was up.

Giygas glanced towards the other humans down on the ground as well. Using a cursory scan, he found that they did not seem to have psychic powers. However, he was not able to sense two others, both of whom were gathered around the first psychic, and one of them had become the new object of Saiyg's lust. He could also feel that a third boy, the blond haired boy with eyeglasses near Ness was also being protected psychically. It was not long before he knew what had to be done. He glanced over towards Saiyg and said, "Saiyg, get back inside the ship. I'm going to activate the weapon now."

Ooooh," Saiyg droned. "Can I be the one to press the button on the 'Go Somewhere Beam' Master? Please? Please? Please?" Saiyg begged, folding her hands as if in prayer.

Giygas shrugged. "Okay, but get in the ship. We're going to target the entire party."

"Yaaaay!" Saiyg cheered as she skipped back into the ship like a young human girl. He could hear Saiyg begin to sing and even wonder out loud, "I wonder if the 'Go Somewhere Beam' will bring that older human teen into my lap. I sure hope so."

Giygas took one last look at Ness and the others. He began to have misgivings about using the 'Go Somewhere Beam', as Saiyg had christened it, on the party, as if it may have a detrimental effect to his people's plans, but he decided that it was worth the risk. He retreated into the ship and retracted the platform. The door closed behind Giygas as he retreated back into the ship.

Inside the ship, Giygas made his way to the command center. Once there, he turned to Saiyg and said, "Once the fighters here have been dealt with, you are to go to the cloud kingdom and lead our forces in its capture or destruction."

Yes, sir!" Saiyg said with childish glee, saluting her master. She then took her position next to her master. Soon, this fight would be over.

Back on the ground, Ness and the others noticed the departure of the aliens back into the ship. However, they were still on their guard. Ness turned to Dr. Andonuts and said, "Doctor, get everyone out of here, now. This fight isn't over, not by a long shot."

"Got it," Dr. Andonuts replied. He then went over to the families of Ness, Paula, and Poo and told them that it would be best to flee. The parents did not want to leave their children, but their children insisted. This was something that only they could deal with. Ness looked up and he saw the underside of the UFO open. From the underbelly of the craft what appeared to be a cannon emerged. Poo immediately raised a Shield Omega over the party. This was a technological weapon and, thus, a psychic shield would prove useless in defending against it.

On the bridge of the ship, Giygas and Saiyg stared down at the party. Saiyg stared into the viewscreen and blew a kiss to the image of Poo. She then targeted the beam on the Chosen Four and pushed the large green button in front of them. "I'll be waiting for you, handsome," she cooed seductively as she pushed the button.

On the ground, the Four saw a field of green energy begin to form on the underbelly of the ship. Ness turned to Dr. Andonuts and yelled, "Doctor, get everyone out of here now!"

Dr. Andonuts and the others began to flee the scene just as the beam fired from the ship. The beam streaked down towards the ground and struck the party head on. A globe of pulsing green energy enveloped the entire neighborhood upon impact with the party. The globe remained for a minute until it dissipated. Frank Fly tried to flee but was not fast enough. The field of energy hit him and washed over his body. Strangely, though, he felt nothing. At first, he thought he was dead, but that could not be, for he found himself in the exact same spot that he had been standing in when the field of energy washed over him. He soon pinched himself and gave off an, "Ouch," since the pinch hurt. He was definitely still alive, and awake. He then looked for Ness and the others in the yard. While he found several of the guests of the party still present, almost all of them only beginning to realize that they were still alive, he noticed that Ness and his friends, as well as their families, had vanished completely without a trace.


	3. Poo

Poo:

Poo opened his eyes to a loud explosion. He was staring at a ceiling. He quickly sat up and gazed at his surroundings. He found himself in his room of the Royal Palace back in Dalaam, or a room that greatly resembled his room back in Dalaam. Another explosion sounded outside and he rushed over to the window. The view outside the window horrified Poo, for he found that Dalaam was under attack from the aliens that had invaded Onett and attacked the families of the Chosen Four. No less than a dozen large UFOs hovered over Dalaam. These craft were the same size as the craft that that strange humanoid seemingly cat-like alien had been seen on. Not only that, but UFOs the size of fighter jets were streaking around Dalaam. Some of them were being followed by missiles, most of which managed to crash into the craft, but the crafts were shielded so it took two or three missiles to take them down. Poo also saw several giant gray robots in the distance rampaging their way towards the homes of the inhabitants of Dalaam. The few figher jets that Dalaam carried, mostly F-15s and a few A-10s appeared to be engaging the robots in the open field of battle. Poo saw that one robot had already been felled during the battle but four more were approaching. In addition to the giant robots and UFOs, there were Starmen, mini-UFOs, elves, and an assortment of other aliens on the ground fighting the small military and police forces of Dalaam on the ground. Bodies of both Dalaamese soldiers and aliens littered the ground outside of the palace. Things were not looking good outside.

Poo quickly took stock of his items. He quickly went to his bed and pulled out a rack from underneath. In it was housed his Bracer of Kings and Diadem of Kings. He placed the bracer on his left arm, and placed the diadem on his chest. He then went over to a closet and opened the door. Inside, he searched for his Cloak of Kings. Upon finding it, he put it on. He then went back to his bed and retrieved the broadsword that he had taken as a prize from the elf that had led the new Sharks. Upon fully equipping himself, he opened the door to the hallway and left his room.

Upon entering the hallway of the Royal Palace of Dalaam, he had hoped to see his parents. However, only his Master was there, along with several Dalaamese Royal Guards. Poo's Master and the guards were armed with military-grade assault rifles and they fired at a series of oncoming enemies that Poo recognized as being some form of Mook. However, these were not the normal Lesser Mooks or Mook Seniors that he had faced during his first adventure. It did not have the purple and red color of the Lesser Mooks, or the brown and green color scheme of the Mook Seniors. This "Mook" was all green, and while it was composed of tentacles, it did not have the two eyestalks. Instead, it had two eyes located above a third eye, which was centered between the two eyes, and just above its grinning mouth. Poo did not know that this "Mook" was actually simply called, Mook. The green Mooks extended their tentacles and blasts of PSI Fire erupted from them. The guards and Poo's Master took cover behind a pillar. The flames splashed against the pillars, but did not manage to melt them completely. These Mooks seemed even weaker than the Lesser Mooks that had attacked the party not much earlier in the day. The guards emerged from their cover and opened fire on the Mooks. The bullets that issued from the assault rifles tore into the alien creatures. The Mooks, or what was left of them, collapsed into heaps on the ground before Poo's Master and his guards, never to rise again.

Once the skirmish had ended, Poo rushed over to his master and called his attention. "Master!"

Poo's Master turned to face his student and exclaimed, "Poo, thank God you're alright. We heard that about three hours or so ago, there was an attack on Onett. You and your parents disappeared after a beam hit the ground and spread out."

"I'm okay," he told his master. A worried look soon crossed the teen's face. "Do you know what happened to my parents?" he asked hurriedly.

Poo's Master looked down and shook his head. "I checked their room and they did not appear there after we received word of what happened during the attack. I was about to check on you when Star Master called me away to help push back this assault on Dalaam. So far, only some Mooks managed to make it into the palace, but I'm sure we'll be seeing more aliens in here shortly."

Soon, a voice sounded from inside of Poo's Master's robes. His Master took out a hand radio and listened to the report. "Master," a muffled voice crackled through. "It's not looking good out here. Our tank platoon has suffered severe losses and our fighters are running out of ammunition for dealing with the larger saucers. We won't be able to hold out much longer."

Poo's Master pressed a button on the radio and spoke into it saying, "I hear you. Reinforcements are on their way. Order the fighters that are out of missiles to land for refueling and rearming immediately. Get our tanks up to those giant robots immediately and have our F-15s cover them. We need to keep them away from the civilian population center."

"Aye sir," the voice came through once more.

Poo's Master then turned to him and said, "Okay, Poo, this is it. Now that you're here, we're going to need you to help protect Dalaam. I sense that this assault is only the beginning." Placing his hands on Poo's shoulders, his master said, "Poo, three years ago you helped stop a massive alien invasion. You made me so proud back then when you helped out those who would become your best friends. You exceeded all of my expectations, and your parents told me to expect a lot from you. And you have only improved in strength, wisdom, courage, and kindness since then. Now _we_ are calling on you to help us in our hour of need, my Prince. You can do this. We'll be right behind you."

Poo nodded. He did not really need the pep talk, but he smiled anyway. He had always been close to his master. Now he was going to directly fight for the lives of everyone inside Dalaam. He, his master, and the royal guards proceeded towards the exit of the palace. Near the exit, two new types of Mook appeared, flanking a female elf with blond hair in a blue sleeveless dress that covered her from neck to ankles. The only difference between these Mooks and the previous Mooks was the fact that they were orange, rather than green. Also, Poo noticed what appeared to be a microphone in the elf's left hand, and a rapier in her right.

"Great, Oh-Mooks," Poo's Master grumbled. "And a Diva Elf." The royal guards took up a firing line and opened fire on the two Oh-Mooks and the Diva Elf. The two Oh-Mooks were felled, but the Diva put the microphone to her mouth and began to sing a song in an alien language. She also danced as if to the beat of her song. The bursts of machinegun fire from the guards missed the young elf entirely. She laughed as she sang a spell into the microphone. However, her spell took time to develop since it had to be sung, and that gave Poo time to cast a Shield Omega over the group. After the elf had finished her song, a pulsing ball of green energy appeared over her head, and rocketed towards her quarry, its primary target, Poo. Poo simply stood in front of the others in order to protect them. He would shield them, even if her attack functioned enough like a psychic attack for his shield to not be able to affect it. The blast of magic impacted Poo's shield, causing it to flare for a brief second, before it sent the attack back to the Diva Elf. The elf's eyes went wide as she noticed the ball of magic streak towards her. She tried to flee her reflected attack, but it was already too late. She turned to run only to be struck in the back by her own ball. The green ball of magic struck her body and exploded, disintegrating the once proud and beautiful Diva Elf. With this threat neutralized, Poo and the others proceeded outside.

Once outside, Poo finally saw the full scope of the battle that had been raging in Dalaam. He saw the bodies of several royal guards and soldiers lying about on the ground. Several other soldiers were dragging away the dead or wounded into cover from the enemy fire. Poo noticed that one of the large UFOs that had been floating over Dalaam had been shot down. He surmised that the Mooks and the Diva Elf must have been survivors of the crash. Poo went over to see if he could scavenge any of their weapons. He noticed that there were two Super Bombs on the body of a lizard-like humanoid alien that he had not encountered on his last adventure. He stooped down to pick up the Super Bombs. Once he had doe so, he made his way towards the only restaurant in Dalaam. He wanted to make sure that there were no more aliens that had survived the crash taking refuge in the building.

Inside the restaurant he found that several tables were overturned, as if to form a makeshift barricade. He noticed about eight people, including a girl about his age, huddling behind one of the tables. He could see that two of the people were armed with strange weapons that Poo suspected were alien in origin. He rushed over to the people to check on their condition. The oldest of the people, a man of about thirty-three years met the prince's gaze and said, "So far, we're all fine. Are the rest of the aliens outside dead?"

"We managed to get the ones that were in the palace and close to the palace, but that is all, so far. Were there any other survivors of the crash?"

The girl, who was sitting next to the man, shook her head. Poo then turned back to the man and said, "Stay here. I'll try to bring other refugees here as well."

It was then that one of the people, a boy of ten years old, asked, "What if we have to evacuate Dalaam?"

That question caught Poo off guard, even though he knew it should not have given the situation. "I don't know," he eventually answered. That answer began to scare Poo more than anything. Poo was very willing to die for his people, but it suddenly struck him that save for the military jets, and maybe some cargo helicopters, there was no way out of Dalaam save for teleportation. And so far, only Poo and Star Master knew how to teleport. Dalaam was a kingdom that sat on top of a cloud. Even taking refuge in Pink Cloud was not an option since there was no exit from Pink Cloud to the outside world. Almost everyone was trapped here. Poo quickly knew what he had to do. He was about to go outside when he saw the chef at the restaurant approach him. The chef then said to Poo, "My Prince, before you go, take these with you." He handed Poo a backpack.

"What's in here?" Poo asked, taking the backpack and slinging it over his shoulders.

"Six Brain Food Lunches," the chef responded. "These restore health and psychic energy as well. They also make good meals. Use them wisely," he warned. Poo also found some Bottles of DX Water inside the backpack as well. These would be useful in helping to replenish his psychic energy.

Poo then made his way out of the restaurant. He knew what he had to do. His responsibility, right now, was to his people, and he would not fail them. He rushed over to his master, who was still outside, coordinating the defense of Dalaam with the rest of the military as well as holding off a few Oh-Mooks that had managed to reach the palace.

"Master, we have to begin the evacuation of Dalaam, at once," Poo told him.

"What?" came his master's response, stunned at what Poo was proposing. It was also the response of the guards that were guarding him.

"You heard me!" Poo yelled over the din of the fighting. He did not like the idea either, but it was the only one that he had. "We have to evacuate Dalaam at once. We'll begin with the civilians, then the military personnel, and finally you and Star Master."

Poo's Master gazed into Poo's eyes intently. "I cannot follow this order, my Prince."

"Why not?" Poo asked in response, glaring at his master.

"Because our mission was not only to teach you, but to protect you," came his answer.

This answer did not surprise Poo, but he had the safety of the people of Dalaam in mind, rather than his own. "People are fighting and dying out there, Master. We are completely cut off from aid from the outside world. We're alone here. We do, however, have some cargo helicopters and a cargo plane. We can use them to evacuate the civilians. One trip for the civilians, another for the military personnel and leaders. Star Master can teleport the people on the front lines to safety. I also know of some locations in the outside that we could evacuate to."

"And what about you?" his master asked.

"I'll remain behind until everyone is evacuated," Poo answered. "It's me the aliens likely want anyway. I can ensure that the aliens focus on me rather than everyone else. There are too many of them for us to hold off forever. This is our only chance to save the people."

The expression of Poo's Master softened. He had never been prouder of his student than he was now. He then took Poo aside for a moment and decided that now was the time Poo needed to learn the full truth about Dalaam.

"There is one more thing that I have to do, my Prince." Poo's Master told him.

"What is it, Master?" Poo asked.

"It's time for your final lesson, Poo," Poo's Master answered. The two of them sat down and Poo's Master began. "As you know, Dalaam is not a normal land. The evidence for that is the fact that it is stationed on top of a cloud, with no way to or from the ground. We are alone up here, separate from the rest of the world. What you don't know is why the kingdom of Dalaam was established." He paused a bit before continuing. "You know that Dalaam has no history, right?"

Poo nodded.

"The reason for that is because it was established only a short time before your birth. It was designed to be a sanctuary for you and any other force for good should you have nowhere else to fall back to. That is why there is no way for Dalaam to contact the outside world, save for teleportation or the cargo helicopters and plane, which we pieced together ourselves only recently. Do you understand what I am telling you?"

"Yes, Master," Poo said quietly.

"There is something else. Until three years ago, Dalaam, and everyone in it, only had one primary mission. That mission was to protect you. When your friends Ness and Paula were discovered to be psychics, that mission extended to them as well. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Poo responded. "But that does not explain why I should not order its evacuation. The enemy is on the Palace's doorstep. Dalaam may well already be lost."

Poo's Master then gave his answer. "It is because everyone here, me, Star Master, your parents, everyone, was ordered to do whatever it took to protect you, even if it meant all of us died in the process. You are too important to simply let die."

"I'm seventeen," Poo countered. "This is not your call to make anymore. I am the Prince of Dalaam. If my parents are dead or have disappeared off the face of the Earth, then that would make _me_ the King of Dalaam. As your king, I am ordering you to begin the evacuation of Dalaam."

"No," Poo's Master blurted out, causing Poo to narrow his gaze onto his master. "Don't you understand? This is our mission. You should be the one evacuating, now, especially if it's you they want. We'll hold them off and kill as many of them as possible while you go in search for your friends."

"The aliens will simply continue to fight you until you're dead. They can come after me anytime they want. If they can influence the minds of the people of Earth, they'll be able to find me no matter where I go. And before it got to that, they'd likely keep attacking and killing the people of Dalaam to force me out of hiding, resorting to other options only if I did not come out of hiding to save you. If you evacuate now, I can have them focus all of their attention on me while everyone else scatters." Poo then gave a smile. "Besides, I think that I might even be strong enough to take them on, and win."

Poo's Master began to protest, but Poo's stern gaze caused him to relent. Eventually, he said, "Very well, my King. I will order the evacuation of Dalaam at once."

Poo placed his hands on the shoulders of his Master and said, "Thank you, Master."

With that, Poo ran off to engage the enemy and open some avenues for retreat and eventual escape. Poo's Master watched the prince, now turned young king, run off into the distance. He pulled out his radio and spoke into it, saying, "All remaining military and police forces. We are issuing an evacuation order for all of Dalaam. Go to your designated stations now so we can cover Phase One of the evacuation."

The affirmatives of the military commanders crackled in over the radio. Poo's Master then turned to one of the guards and said, "Captain, handle this situation for me."

"Where are you going?" the Captain of the Guard asked.

"To assist my king," was the only answer Poo's Master gave before running after his student. The Captain watched as Poo's Master scrounged among the wreckage of several spacecraft in order to find some usable weapons to supplement his current arsenal. After he had plundered the downed spacecrafts of their more useful weapons, he rushed after Poo.

Upon catching up to his student, Poo's Master found his student engaging several Mooks and an Oh-Mook. Poo used his sword to fight off the unfortunate creatures. Each of their physical attacks bounced off of Poo's counter shield and merely ended up hurting them instead. Poo responded by using his sword to cut the Mooks to pieces, not wanting to waste his psychic energy on these weak creatures. By the time his master had caught up, the fight was already over. Poo then resumed his heading towards the main force of the alien invasion.

Meanwhile, the civilians were already being herded towards the cargo helicopters. They had been instructed to only carry what the needed. Half of Dalaam's army kept watch over the evacuation. Men in black combat dress uniforms stood guard with their M-16s and grenade launchers, some even armed with Stinger missile launchers, while the civilians of Dalaam boarded the cargo helicopters and plane, an old C-130. They were to ensure the safety of the evacuating civilians should any of the enemy make it past Star Master, Poo, and the other half of Dalaam's military forces. So far, none of the enemy had made it past the main force and close to the evacuation site. However, each soldier knew what was being asked of them. It was not a terrible burden for them, though, since many of them had family members that were being evacuated ahead of them. They continued to keep their vigil, just in case things went horribly wrong on the battlefield not far enough away from them.

In the field of battle, the military and police forces of Dalaam were doing their jobs as best they could. However, they were being driven back. A pink energy pulse slammed into a tank, blowing it apart. Shrapnel from the destroyed tank flew out in all directions, a hazard for anyone who had been standing too close to the vehicle. Now, all that remained was a burning chassis. Another tank returned fire towards the UFO that had been hovering above the battlefield, hoping to avenge the loss of its comrade. The tank fired its cannon and a shell sped forth from the cannon, towards the offending UFO. The shell struck the low-flying UFO and exploded. The UFO must have taken previous damage since the shell was able to penetrate its hull and explode. The explosion gouged a large hole in the silver UFO, debris falling from the wound in the UFO. Apparently the wound was fatal, for the UFO began to descend uncontrollably. It fell to the ground where it crashed and exploded. Even worse for the invading force was that the fallen UFO had crashed into a rank of Starmen, killing them. The army gave a cheer at the sight of the fallen UFO. But they knew that the battle was far from over.

It was not long before Poo managed to make it into the fray. He quickly drew his sword and felled an elf that had come too close to one of the soldiers of Dalaam. A single stab was enough to end the elf's threat. He looked more closely and found that the soldier was none other than his Star Master.

"Star Master," Poo cried out in greeting.

"My Prince," Star Master hollered in response as he used his sword, a katana, to neutralize the threat posed by an Oh-Mook. "We're holding our own here, for the moment, but there's another force coming not too far away. They're landing their troops near the edge of Dalaam. They have also landed more of those massive robots behind the first wave of UFOs. I've heard the enemy refer to them as R7037s."

He looked about over the battlefield and saw the first wave of the main invasion force. These consisted of UFOs of various sizes. They were undoubtedly coming to take out any air cover that the military of Dalaam still had. Poo looked back and saw F-15s dogfighting the UFOs, with the F-15s maintaining the upper hand. While the UFOs did have stealth technology that minimized their radar signature, they were still vulnerable to heat-seeking missiles, a surprising oversight by whoever had engineered the craft. Not only that, but the Earth jet fighters also outmaneuvered the alien craft in dogfights so they were difficult to take down, even though the UFOs were faster fighters in a straight out race. Poo decided that it was time to even things up. He focused his mind and envisioned the alien force that was approaching. He could almost see the alien UFOs massing for a charge against the primary military force of Dalaam, intending to breach the defenses while the other UFOs behind them harried the second lines before succumbing to the firepower of the Dalaamese military. Poo then gave a loud cry as warning to the friendly forces, "PSI Starstorm!"

Immediately, the friendly forces of Dalaam ducked as Poo unleashed a hail of blue orbs upon the oncoming alien force. The psychic stars streaked towards the invading alien forces and soon made contact with them. They phased through the normal shields of the alien craft and inflicted damage directly to their hulls. The smaller craft were obliterated as the stars impacted them, shattered their hulls, and kept on going, sometimes to doom a second craft. The larger UFOs were more durable. They did not immediately disintegrate upon collision with one of Poo's stars. However, Poo's Starstorm attack was incredibly powerful and the stars still managed to bore their way through the hulls of the alien ships, taking them down in little more than single hits. The craft that did not explode in midair came crashing down to Earth, impacting the ground and exploding, sending up clouds of dirt, debris, and shrapnel. However, the battle was far from over.

Behind the first wave of UFOs were half a dozen large gray robots. These were several stories tall. Poo recognized these robots as having been the same type of robot that he had seen after looking out the window of his room inside the palace. They were gray robots that looked like large trashcans with arms, legs, and a head with glowing yellow eyes. There were also three green lights on the bottom of the robots. These had to have been the R7037s that Star Master had been talking about. At the rear was another robot similar to the R7037s. This one, however, was blue, rather than gray. Poo suspected that this one was more powerful than the standard R7037s. He could see a pair of lights below the head of this new robot. He suspected that they either housed energy cannons, or _were_ energy cannons of some sort. He was going to wait for them to get a little bit closer, and thus, farther away from the next wave of attackers, when a voice crackled in over the radio of one of the generals. "Sir, inform Prince, I mean King Poo, that the civilians have been loaded onto the transports and are about to take off."

"Understood," the general called back. He turned to Poo and asked, "You heard the report?"

"Yes, I did," Poo replied. He quickly changed his plans. He was going to engage the robots now.

Poo began to step forward when his Master and Star Master stepped forward as well. "What are you doing?" Poo asked. "I'm the decoy."

"We're here to help you," Poo's Master replied. "When you were young, we swore to teach you and to protect you as well. It is time for us to fulfill our oaths."

"Besides, you'll need our help," Star Master added. "These robots are powerful. One Starstorm barrage won't be enough to defeat them, and they can crush tanks merely by stepping on them."

Star Master did have a point. And given that he knew that a single Starstorm was not going to be enough to fell these robots, it was likely that he had fought them during the early part of the invasion, and had a good deal of information on them. "Okay," Poo said. "Star Master, sensei, you're with me. Master, you go back and cover the escape of the military forces, and to leave on the last transport. We can't hold their entire force, but if I can take out these R703…whatevers, we can stall the invasion long enough for everyone to escape."

In the distance, Poo could already see the helicopters and cargo plane taking off. Two F-15s accompanied each helicopter and the plane. He saw the few remaining A-10 Warthogs firing on the alien ground forces covering the escape. Poo's Master began to protest but Poo cut him off. "You may have a responsibility to me, but I also have one to you and everyone here in Dalaam. I am the only one who can hold the invasion force until everyone escapes. I can't afford to be distracted having to worry about your safety. One more body won't make much difference here." He paused for a moment before continuing, "You've been a great teacher. And I thank you for everything you've done."

Poo gave a bow to his master. His master returned the bow and then proceeded to make his way back to help cover the transports that were leaving. Poo and Star Master then turned to face the oncoming invasion force of R7037s and the R7038 behind them. The massive robots stomped their way towards the two humans that dared to stand against them. Poo witnessed an abandoned tank get flattened into a metallic pancake by the foot of an R7037 as it made its way towards the duo.

Poo and Star Master then made their way towards the robots. Poo quickly raised a Shield Omega over the two of them in order to protect them from the attacks of the R7037s. Poo did not know if his shield would hold against the strength of the robots, but he had few other options. As soon as the robots were within range, both he and Star Master powered up a PSI Starstorm Omega barrage. Over a dozen blue orbs sprang into existence around the two warriors. After they had formed, Poo and Star Master pushed their hands outward towards the enemy. Immediately the orbs rocketed off in the direction of the giant robots.

Poo's barrage was the first to strike the robots. The stars of Starstorm impacted the lead robot and blew a massive hole in the robot. This was followed by a second star, and a third, and a fourth. With each star, more of the robot disappeared until there was nothing left but a massive pile of scrap. A second robot suffered a similar fate to the lead R7037. A third robot had its left arm and leg blown off, but otherwise was still functional. That changed when a star from Star Master's Starstorm barrage struck the stricken robot. That star blew the head of the robot off its body and left the rest of the robot a smoldering wreck. The rest of the stars from the barrage struck the other three robots. One of the three remaining robots was destroyed outright, suffering the brunt of the attack, while two robots that were flanking the robot suffered moderate damage. Their bodies were smoking and they were dented in areas, but otherwise they were unharmed.

From her command UFO among the third wave of the assault, Saiyg watched the battle between the two humans and the R7037s and the R7038 unfold. At first, she had gazed upon Poo starry eyed and had moaned audibly numerous times about how she had wished that the "Go Somewhere Beam" had sent him to her private chamber rather than back to Dalaam. That look of lust and childish infatuation was now replaced with not a small amount of shock, and a little bit of fear. Giygas had told her about how in the previous attack on Earth, a single R7037 would have been enough to kill the two psychics and their techie friend had they engaged him without a tank. The R7038 was an upgraded version of R7037 and had practically laid waste to them when they fought the robot more than a decade ago. The object of Saiyg's lust had in a few moments destroyed two R7037s, and severely damaged a third. And not only that, but his older friend had destroyed the third robot, and a subsequent fourth robot, and had inflicted noticeable damage upon the remaining R7037s. What made it even more interesting, and complicated, was the fact that they had used Starstorm, a psychic attack that she had thought only Starmen Deluxes, Ghosts of Starmen, Final Starmen, and PSI Lords knew.

She grumbled. Human boys were a lot more complicated than she thought, particularly this one, who was now revealed to be a powerful psychic. Being a psychic meant that he was now a target to be killed, especially since he knew Starstorm. She frowned for a moment. She really wanted to have him as a consort, even if only a temporary one before he was to be killed, or sent into the meat grinder on another world. Her eyes then sparkled once more and a grin twisted her lips. That was, unless he decided to join the PSI Lords as a servant. Maybe even her servant. Maybe she could convince Giegue to let him be her personal servant, to await on her every pleasure. She jumped into the air, squealed, and clicked her heels at the happy thought and then went over to the radio, smashed the activation button into the console with her finger and yelled, "All forces forward! We have to get a hold of that incredibly sexy psychic boy! Capture him at all costs!"

She then tried to turn off the radio when she realized that her initial press had embedded the button into the console. "Oops," she said sheepishly. She then returned to staring longingly at the hologram of Prince Poo, giving an audible moan that sounded over the radio for the entire invasion force to hear.

Meanwhile, in orbit over Earth in the carrier saucer, Giygas was watching the progress of Saiyg's invasion of Dalaam from his command chair. His eyes were wide as he stared at the hologram in front of him of the battlefield. Upon first meeting these psychics, he had suspected that they might be more powerful than Ninten had been during the Earth year of 1989 when he had launched his first invasion of Earth, but he was shocked at how powerful this one psychic had been. He had treated Oh-Mooks as if they were nothing more than mere annoyances. He glanced over to the Starman Deluxe that was sitting next to him and said, "Saiyg is having trouble in Dalaam. Prepare your forces for the invasion of the Earth city known as Twoson. We believe that the unknown psychic girl may have originated from that city, and may be there now."

"Understood, Master," the Starman Deluxe responded.

Giygas then returned to the holographic display. He feared for Saiyg's safety. All too often, she was quite arrogant, and he knew that she had a crush on Poo, more than a crush. She was outright in lust with him. That could lead to foolish decisions. He only hoped that the Starman Deluxe that was down there with her would keep her focused on the task at hand, the destruction of Dalaam.

Back in Dalaam, the two remaining R7037s and the R7038 were now within melee range of Poo and Star Master. The three robots drove their fists into the two human warriors standing before them. However, the counter shield that Poo had raised over the two of them flared into existence as the fists impacted the shields and they were bounced back at the robots. The force of the counter threw the robots a few feet into the air backwards. They fell to the ground in a heap and threw up a large cloud of dirt and dust upon impact. The cloud washed over the shield over Poo and Star Master, but did not affect them. Star Master's eyes began to glow as he powered his own Starstorm Omega attack. Poo stood guard, ready to finish the job should Star Master's attack be insufficient to finish off the three remaining robots. As soon as the orbs had formed around Star Master, he stretched out his arms and the stars flew towards the fallen robots. The barrage of psychic stars impacted the robots and blew apart the robots. After the dust had cleared, all that was left of the robots was scrap metal.

Saiyg watched the final result of the battle from her craft at the rear of the third wave of the assault as the Star Master's attack finished off the rest of the rest of the robots. She grimaced. Apparently, there was more than one psychic here, and this one knew Starstorm as well. That meant that isolating the boy would be a lot more complicated that initially thought. She turned to the Starman Deluxe that was standing behind her and ordered, "Order the third wave to begin their assault. Tell them to primarily target the old man next to the boy. I want to deal with the boy, myself."

The visor over the Starman Deluxe's face shielded her from being able to see his expression of shock, which was probably a good thing. "But milady," the Starman Deluxe began, "we have taken scans of both of them, and the boy is stronger than the older warrior."

"I don't care!" Saiyg snapped. "I want the older warrior targeted now! I want to capture the Prince of Dalaam, not kill him, not yet."

"Excuse me, mistress, but what good is capturing him going to be?" the Starman asked his commander.

"It will allow us to have gained a new, and powerful soldier," Saiyg responded, annoyed with such a question having been asked. "We have suffered severe losses already. We may as well get something for all of the trouble we put into this invasion. Besides, I want to know how he got to be so powerful. Humans aren't supposed to be so powerful, it would behoove us to learn how such a young human became so powerful," Saiyg said seemingly sagely. The truth was that she just wanted Poo to be her consort.

That answer seemed to satisfy the Starman Deluxe. "Shall I go down and lead the attack?" the Starman asked.

Saiyg smiled mischievously. "Sure, why not?" Then, with a push of a button, she opened a door to the outside. Air immediately began to rush out of the craft. With a shove, she pushed the Starman Deluxe out of the airlock. As the Starman fell to the ground, controlling his descent with his psychic powers, Saiyg blew him a kiss. "Good luck," she called in a sultry voice. She then closed the door and the ship proceeded to float ahead slowly to rejoin the third wave.

Back on the battlefield, the front of the supposedly irresistible force that was the third, and final wave, of the assault on Dalaam had already slammed into the immovable object that was Poo and Star Master. So far, the immovable object was winning. Poo had wiped out a line of Oh-Mooks with a blast of PSI Thunder Omega at the exact moment they were within range of his attack. Soon, the next part of the wave came. This force consisted of various aliens that Poo had never encountered once before, and were quite disturbing to gaze upon. One such type of enemy, known by Saiyg and others that had faced it before as Ullrich, which was a floating, fat blue face holding its breath with a much smaller head and small arms sprouting from the top. A line consisting of a dozen of these enemies quickly descended upon Poo and Star Master. The Ullriches cast PSI Thunder, their target, Poo. Unfortunately, for them, Poo was much stronger. He stretched out his hands and caught the lightning attacks. The force of the attack caused him to strain slightly before he was able to redirect the lightning away from him. His counterattack was much deadlier to the Ullriches. He stretched out his hands and unleashed a blast of PSI Thunder upon the enemies. Evidently, the enemies were quite weak, for the dozen Ullriches fell to the single blast of PSI Thunder, and Poo had only cast it at its Beta level in order to conserve his power.

Soon, more enemies began to approach. These consisted of Oh-Mooks and enemies that were basically brains inside jars walking on two legs. The enemies that Poo and Star Master were facing were getting even more disturbing. Poo could sense that the brains in the jars, known as Cerebrums to Saiyg and the invading forces, had powerful psychic abilities. The Cerebrums made certain that Poo and Star Master knew this as they launched powerful streams of PSI Fire at Poo, which would have caused Saiyg to execute them on the spot if she had known that they had targeted Poo, rather than Star Master. Fortunately, Star Master was also well versed in the use of defensive PSI as well as the power Starstorm. He raised a PSI Shield Beta over Poo, since Poo was the target of the Cerebrums. The streams of fire impacted the psychic shield Star Master had placed over Poo and reflected it back at the Cerebrums. One of the Cerebrums had come too close to Poo, and Poo made it pay for that mistake by stabbing it in the jar. After withdrawing his sword from the jar, the Cerebrum fell over, fluid leaking from the hole in the jar. Suspecting that the Cerebrums also had access to psychic defenses, and wanting to take out the Oh-Mooks in one attack, Star Master fired off a barrage of Starstorm towards the onrushing enemies. Volley after volley of blue stars rained down upon the Cerebrums and the Oh-Mooks. The enemies never had a chance. The rain of stars tore into their ranks and disintegrated most of them. After ten seconds, all that remained were craters. Not a trace of the enemy forces that had attacked remained.

Soon, the rearguard of the third wave approached the two human warriors. These consisted of several fighter sized UFOs with one large UFO that had to be the command ship for the invasion. On the ground were a squadron of four normal Starmen and a Starman Deluxe. The two warriors knew that things were now getting serious. Poo turned towards Star Master and said, "This is it, they're making their big push and we have to push back."

"I know," Star Master responded serenely. He then turned back towards the enemy.

The Starman Deluxe was the first to begin his attack. He launched a Starstorm barrage upon Poo and Star Master. Blue stars rained down from the heavens upon the two warriors. However, the psychic shield over Poo had managed to deflect some of the stars towards the Starman Deluxe. Unfortunately, the Starman Deluxe was also protected by a PSI Shield Beta, which meant that the stars that were reflected onto the Starman Deluxe were now reflected back towards Poo. Poo immediately stepped in front of Star Master, who had weathered a portion of the attack and suffered severe injuries due to the falling stars to shield him from the rest of the attack. The stars ping-ponged back and forth until they dissipated.

Poo, knowing that Star Master had sustained a lot of damage from that attack, pulled out one of the Brain Food Lunches from his backpack and gave it to Star Master. Star Master at first refused to eat, insisting that Poo eat the meal to recover his psychic power. Poo shook his head and pushed the Brain Food Lunch back to Star Master. Eventually, Star Master ate the Brain Food Lunch. Upon eating the meal, he instantly recovered his full physical health, as well as some of his psychic energy. This healing meal had been essential; for it had been obvious that Star Master had begun to show signs of strain, psychically. In order to conserve his student's power, he had been the one to launch volley after volley of Starstorm upon the enemy, while Poo merely covered him.

"My King, I don't know how much more of this I can take," he told Poo.

"Don't worry, Master," Poo assured him. "I've fought this enemy before. I know how to defeat him. Just stay back. Let me handle this one. You've done more than I could have ever asked of you."

Listening to Poo, Star Master stepped back and allowed Poo to handle this enemy, but not before accepting a Bottle of DX Water from the Prince. The Starman Deluxe, knowing that capturing Poo was his primary mission, rather than killing him, ordered the four Starmen flanking him to engage Star Master in order to keep Poo isolated. This, however, proved to be an unfortunate mistake, since Star Master had since drank the water and thus, regained more of his psychic strength. The Starmen appeared in front of Star Master and began to fire beams from their visors. This would prove disastrous for the Starmen since Poo's Star Master had raised a shield over his body, knowing that they did not have any offensive PSI. The beams splashed harmlessly against his shield. Now, it was time for him to counterattack. He did so in the form of PSI Starstorm. Once again, a rain of stars bore down from the heavens, and onto the four Starmen. Unfortunately, one barrage was not sufficient to take down the Starmen. However, with his shield up, it would take longer for them to wear him down and kill him. They continued to fire their beams, hoping to take down his shield before he would be able to close to within melee range and fight them where they were weakest. However, Star Master still had some options left. He reached into his robes and pulled out a Super Bomb. Pressing the activation button on the bomb, he then threw it towards the Starmen. The Starmen had not been expecting this, so they were still in close formation when the bomb landed near them and exploded. The explosion managed to kill two of the Starmen outright, reducing them to ashes, while the others were still alive, but badly injured. Still, the survivors continued to fight. They fired a beam from their visors at Star Master. But it was too little to make any difference now. Star Master charged the stricken Starmen and with a series of punches and kicks, knocked them to the ground. There they lay, either unconscious or dead. He then went to help Poo in his battle against the Starman Deluxe.

Meanwhile, Poo was engaging the Starman Deluxe in a physical showdown, since both of them had psychic shields protecting them from the other's psychic attacks. Poo swung his sword down onto the Starman Deluxe. The sword bit into the silver suit of the Starman and managed to draw a small amount of blue alien blood. Without any swords to retaliate with, the Starman Deluxe simply tried firing a green energy beam at Poo. However, Poo was too fast for him. Poo raised his shining sword before the beam had been fired and intercepted the attack. The beam was reflected back at the Starman Deluxe, who did not have the capacity to raise a physical shield. The beam struck the Starman Deluxe in the chest and burned a small hole into his suit. This was followed by another slash by Poo to the Starman's abdomen, which managed to draw some more blood.

The Starman Deluxe knew that things were getting bad, now, so he had to think of something fast. He decided that his best option was to call for help. He quickly activated the radio that was built into his suit and said, "This is Starman Deluxe 242, I need some backup, fast!"

Almost instantly, a Starman Super appeared next to the Starman Deluxe. Poo witnessed the event, but decided that it would be best to concentrate on the Starman Super, since it could revive the Starman Deluxe if it were still alive when the Starman Deluxe was killed. Poo was about to fight the Starman Super when Star Master appeared in front of Poo.

"You concentrate on the leader, I'll handle the lackey," Star Master told him.

Poo was not in any position to argue, so he simply nodded. Still, he wanted to defeat the Starman Deluxe quickly so he could assist Star Master in facing down the Starman Super should it still be necessary. With Star Master dealing with the Starman Super, Poo returned his attention to the Starman Deluxe.

The Starman Deluxe realized that with the appearance of Star Master, it was a one-on-one fight once again. He tried to wrap his tentacle arm around Poo's throat to strangle him while ripping the sword out of Poo's hand. However, Poo was far too quick for him. Poo ducked down as the tentacle arm grabbed at the air above his head. Poo then performed a sweep kick and knocked the Starman Deluxe off his feet. The Starman Deluxe landed with a loud thud. The hit to the floor took more out of him than Poo suspected it would. However, the Starman had already suffered significant damage earlier in the fight. Poo went over to quickly finish the fight. He grabbed his broadsword and, standing over the Starman Deluxe, thrust the blade down through the Starman's visor. The blade bit into the suit and continued moving downward until it emerged from the other side of the suit. The Starman Deluxe convulsed for a second before it stopped moving. Poo withdrew the blade and wiped it off with a rag that was lying on the ground next to him. He then searched for Star Master.

Not too far away, Star Master was fighting evenly with the Starman Super. The Starman Super, while fast, was no faster than Star Master. With Star Master's shield still in play, the beams that the Starman Super fired at him failed to cause him any damage. However, Star Master had also used up a lot of his psychic energy against the four Starmen that he had fought earlier. Knowing that there were more enemies to fight, he did not want to waste the last of his psychic energy in a one-on-one fight with an enemy that was overwhelmingly powerful. Star Master thrust out his walking stick, which doubled as a staff, and poked the Starman Super in the chest. This put some distance between the two fighters. Star Master then assumed a defensive posture as the Starman Super looked over his shoulder. He found that the Starman Deluxe had fallen and that Poo was headed over to this location. He had to act fast. He put his arms on his hips and began to use Healing Omega in order to revive the dead Starman Deluxe. Unfortunately, Poo arrived before the spell was complete. Poo fired a blast of PSI Thunder at the Starman Super, killing him before the Starman could revive his commander.

After the battle was over, Poo went over to Star Master and used PSI Lifeup Alpha on him to heal him of any injuries. After Star Master was healed, he looked back and saw the rest of the invasion force coming. It would not be long before they were overrun now, for Poo was beginning to feel the use of his psychic powers. He then looked up and noticed that the UFO that he suspected to be the command ship was descending upon the battlefield. It hovered only a couple dozen feet above the ground. Soon, a hatch opened and a small platform was extended. Stepping out onto the platform was the younger alien that had accompanied the alien leader during the attack on Onett. Poo was sure that it was the same alien. Saiyg stood majestically upon the platform and glanced down at the field of battle. She saw the fallen Starmen, Cerebrums, Oh-Mooks, Ullriches and other aliens that Poo, Star Master, and the military forces of Dalaam had defeated earlier. Her eyes soon fell upon the Prince, now King of Dalaam and she began to swoon.

Poo did not know what to make of the alien's swooning. Given its physical appearance, he was almost certain that the alien was female. To him, it looked as if the alien was swooning, which she was. He did not know whether or not the alien was seemingly swooning over him or Star Master. He doubted that it was Star Master, given what he had remembered of her behavior during their encounter at Onett. He sternly looked the alien straight in the eyes. She responded by fluttering her eyelashes and cooed, "Yoo hoo, over here handsome." It was clear that she was referring to Poo. Poo could have sworn that she was trying to seduce him.

Poo then stepped forward and began to speak strongly and boldly. "As the Prince, and possibly even King of Dalaam, I demand to know why you have launched this invasion of our kingdom." He wanted to present a strong front before the alien. She had to know that he was stronger than the others in Dalaam, except for maybe the Star Master, but he did not want her to suspect that he was weary from all of the fighting that had recently occurred.

Saiyg giggled. "Maybe I'll tell you if you come and be my consort," she responded coyly. She then assumed a seductive pose. _Is she actually trying to seduce me_? Poo asked himself in his mind, as if in disbelief. By looking at her more closely, she could not have been older than the equivalent of thirteen or fourteen at most. Poo had always been reluctant to go out on dates, to say nothing about starting actual romantic relationships. And here, he was being propositioned by someone who, all things considered, may well have been the same age as Ness or Paula, and a lot less mature than either of them. The situation was beginning to make Poo feel very uncomfortable. Of course, this could all be one big ruse in order to get him to lower his guard by accepting her advances, or make him feel very uncomfortable, which would have the same results. Poo's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a voice break through on a radio that had to belong to Star Master. Star Master pulled out his radio as the voice spoke. "Sir, we're beginning to evacuate the remaining military forces. We suggest you make your way to the evacuation point immediately."

Star Master pushed a button on the radio and said, "Tell the transports not to wait for me. I have to help Prince Poo."

_Transports_? Saiyg mused.

"Go," Poo commanded.

Star Master turned towards his king and demanded, "What do you mean, go? I have a sworn duty to protect you my liege. I won't abandon you now."

"Go, Star Master. You've done your duty even better than I thought would be possible. You're already worn out." Poo then smiled gently. "Besides, they may need you to cover them during the evacuation should any of the aliens make it through to try to shoot them down."

_Evacuation_? Saiyg questioned. She then smiled. She had him now.

"But…"

"Go," Poo ordered. "I'll be fine," he assured his master.

Eventually, Star Master shrugged and said, "Very well, my liege. But if you run into trouble, don't hesitate to call me or get out of there."

"I won't," he assured Star Master.

Star Master took one last look at his student and said, "Good luck, my King."

"And to you, Star Master," Poo responded, bowing. Star Master then teleported to the evacuation point to help cover the final stages of the evacuation of Dalaam.

Poo quickly turned and focused his attention on Saiyg, who was floating down from her command ship. Poo stepped forward to meet her. As soon as she touched down, she stared at the young man coming to meet her. Her face was aglow as she stared at him, his sword in hand. When he was within a few feet of the girl, he stopped, his expression cold and serious. Saiyg, however, only let out a low sigh. Poo got right to the point.

"Why did you attack?" he demanded in a low voice.

Saiyg frowned. "It was orders," she answered casually, kicking at the dirt. "Master Giygas commanded me to lead the invasion force."

Poo was unable to hide his shock at her answer. His eyes went wide at the revelation. "Giygas? Did you say Giygas?"

This question surprised Saiyg. "Yes. Why are you surprised that my master's name is Giygas? Have you met him before?"

Poo did not give an answer, which was all the answer that Saiyg seemed to need. _How does he know Master Giygas? Master never told me that he fought this guy before_. She then stared back at Poo, forgetting where her last thought was going. Now, all she was interested in was making sure that Poo became her pleasure servant.

"Tell you what," Saiyg began seductively. "What if, you become my servant, and I let you live a life of ease and luxury?" She blinked her eyes, accentuating her lashes and beautiful eyes. "Heck, I might even let those people evacuate the city without incident. All you have to do is become my pleasure servant." She gave Poo a sweet smile.

"Not interested," Poo replied harshly. "Leave here at once." Looking around at the devastation, he added, "You've done what you came here to do. Dalaam is practically destroyed already."

"Not until you agree to become my pleasure servant!" Saiyg pouted.

"That's not going to happen."

Saiyg then frowned and a small, conical device appeared in her left hand. "Then I have no choice." She then scowled for a bit before her face twisted into a rage of seeming insanity mixed with sadness. "I'll have to take you by force!"

She then pushed a button on the cone and a green energy blade sprang into existence and Saiyg held it out in front of her in a fighter's stance. Poo quickly drew his sword. Saiyg quickly charged Poo, who was still covered by his counter shield. Poo let the beam sword strike his shield. The impact caused his shield to flare into existence for an instant. The shield rebounded the strike and sent it back at Saiyg with twice the force. She gripped the blade even harder and did everything in her power to keep the blade from making contact with her skin. She managed to stop the blade and looked beyond it to see Poo rushing her, the tip of his blade pointed at her chest. She quickly raised her beam sword and managed to parry the blow. When the two blades struck, sparks erupted from the point of contact. Poo quickly pulled his blade away and examined his sword. The flat part of his sword was now charred and melted at the point where it had made contact with Saiyg's beam sword.

Saiyg quickly took advantage of Poo's moment of hesitation and swung her sword towards Poo's head. It was a wild swing and not likely to make contact with him, but he reflexively raised his broadsword to parry the blow. Saiyg's green beam sword sliced straight through Poo's sword without even slowing down. The point of the severed part of the blade fell to the ground and stuck in. Poo examined his cloven blade and quickly threw it at Saiyg. The blade made contact with Saiyg, unfortunately, only the blunted stump of the blade managed to touch her. Still, Saiyg recoiled at the impact of the broken blade. Poo quickly followed up by pulling out one of the Super Bombs that he had grabbed from one of the fallen aliens and activated it. He focused on Saiyg and threw the bomb with all of his might. The bomb reached Saiyg and detonated. The explosion was not powerful enough to severely injure her, but it did disorient her.

Poo took advantage of her disorientation and launched a barrage of PSI Starstorm Omega. Saiyg smiled when she saw the incoming barrage of stars. Her race had a form of automatic defense that was normal for her kind. Her people already had psychic shields raised over their body. Stronger members of her own kind, such as Giegue and Master Giygas, had PSI Shield Betas over their bodies. They could automatically reflect any psychic attack back to the attacker. Unfortunately, Saiyg only had a PSI Shield Alpha up at the time. Poo's Starstorm Omega slammed into her shields and they flared into existence with each impact. While her shields were strong, the strength of Poo's Starstorm Omega surprised her. The shields strained with each and every strike. After the sixth strike, she felt one of the layers collapse. The bleed-through energy of the attack had also weakened the second layer before it was struck directly by the rest of the attack. The second layer collapsed as the attack ended. Saiyg stared at Poo in shock. No one save for Master Giygas had ever been able to inflict that much damage to her shield in one strike.

Saiyg decided that she could no longer play with this opponent. He may have been handsome, but he was too powerful. If she did not fight to kill, she might be the one who was killed. She gritted her teeth. All feelings of lust were quickly fleeing her body and mind, replaced by anger, sadness, and even a small bit of fear. "If I can't have you, NO ONE CAN!"

Saiyg then floated into the air and up to her ship. When she had landed on top of her ship, she yelled, "PSI Starstorm Omega!"

Immediately, green orbs began to descend from the sky all around the UFO, all of them focusing on Poo. Poo witnessed the stars coming down on him and began to dodge frantically, doing everything he could to keep himself from being struck by the Starstorm barrage that Saiyg had unleashed upon the area. At first, the stars were pretty spread out, but it was not long before they were focusing in on Poo's position. He knew that he would not be able to dodge all of them. Indeed, a series of stars impacted the ground far too close to his position and detonated. The impacts threw up dirt and disoriented Poo. Then, one of the stars struck his body. It felt as if a wrecking ball had hit him squarely in the chest. The impact and detonation of the star sent Poo flying through the air. He knew that he had suffered fatal damage. He immediately used PSI Lifeup Beta, for he only had enough psychic power to use that level of the attack, he had used so much psychic energy during the battle for Dalaam that he had very little left for his fight against Saiyg. He almost began to regret giving his Bottle of DX Water to Star Master. Still, he knew that at the time, that Star Master had needed it more than he did. Now, though, Poo was wondering what he would do. He had two options, he could teleport away from the fight and survive at least for a time, but that would put the evacuees that had yet to leave Dalaam at risk. One thing Poo could tell from what he saw of Saiyg was that she was quite the sadist. She would kill everyone and everything that was still left in Dalaam. He had to buy the evacuees the time they needed in order to escape. Besides, he still had something left in the tank.

Poo decided that the best chance to buy the rest of the evacuees the time they needed in order to escape was to try to at least injure Saiyg so that she would be forced to heal herself, taking her attention away from the evacuees. He was about to use his last Super Bomb when his master and Star Master teleported in front of him. His master had a science fiction style gun with him that Poo did not immediately recognize. He then recognized the gun as a Shield Killer, a weapon designed to strip the shield or psychic shield of a target. Poo's Master targeted Saiyg with the Shield Killer, and fired. The beam struck Saiyg and energy arced across her body. She could tell immediately that her PSI Shield Alpha had fallen. Star Master then handed Poo a Bottle of DX Water, which Poo quickly accepted. He drank the water and felt some of his psychic energy returning to him. Once he had recovered some psychic energy, he joined Star Master in launching barrages of Starstorm and Starstorm Omega, respectively, for Poo still had very little psychic energy left, at Saiyg before she could raise a psychic shield or counter to block their attack. The barrages of Starstorm streaked towards Saiyg. Before Saiyg could raise a psychic shield, the two barrages of Starstorm struck. Poo and Star Master had managed to focus the blasts on her and her ship. The first star from Poo's barrage struck the command ship and plowed through it unabated, heading upward until it dispersed. That star was followed by a second star, and a third. The stars tore through the ship as if it were made of tissue paper. Soon, the ship had its core breached and it exploded in a magnificent ball of fire. The rest of Poo's barrage had struck Saiyg, who had suffered damage from the explosion of her ship in addition to the damage she suffered from the remaining stars in Poo's barrage, as well as the stars from Star Master's Starstorm Omega barrage. The explosion sent Saiyg flying into the air away from Poo, his master, and Star Master. She then used PSI Lifeup Gamma in order to restore herself to full health. Poo hoped that Saiyg's healing of her injuries would give the evacuees the time they needed in order to escape the doomed kingdom.

Poo placed his hands on his knees and took a deep breath. He was tired, but he knew what he had to do. He was about to go find Saiyg and give her something else to consider when Star Master placed his hand on Poo's shoulder. Poo turned to see Star Master and Star Master standing behind him.

"You've done all you can, my King," his master told him. "The last transport is waiting. You must leave now."

Poo scowled. He did not want to have this argument again. "I told you before, my responsibility is to this…" but Poo never got a chance to finish, for Star Master had cast PSI Hypnosis on Poo, putting the young king to sleep.

"Get him to the transport now," Poo's Master told Star Master.

Star Master then teleported to the cargo plane that was about to leave. He placed Poo on the plane. After a few seconds, he began to speak. "You have a responsibility to these people," Star Master told his unconscious student. "Your purpose now is to live. You have a good, long life ahead of you. I am old. I do not regret dying to save you. It would have all come down to this anyway."

Star Master then teleported away, leaving his best and favorite student. Star Master was gone and the plane was beginning to take off just as Poo began to awaken.

Star Master appeared back at the battlefield next to Poo's Master. "Is it done?" Poo's Master asked.

"It's done," Star Master replied. He then sighed. "There's only one thing left to do."

The two then turned to face Saiyg, who was now standing atop a UFO, flanked by the remains of the third wave of the invasion force. Despite the catastrophic losses sustained by the alien invaders, they still had more than enough forces to wipe out everyone in Dalaam, even if the military had not evacuated. They slowly made their way towards Poo's Master and Star Master.

Saiyg stood atop her new command UFO and stared down at the two human warriors. Poo was no longer among them. This would be easy. She quickly raised a PSI Shield Beta over herself in order to reflect any damage that the Star Master would try to unleash upon her in the form of his Starstorm attack. Just as she thought, she saw Star Master powering up his PSI Starstorm attack, as well as the other human aim the Shield Killer at her. She smiled, she had placed a standard shield over the UFO in order to absorb the Shield Killer's beam and protect her own shield. She smiled as the Shield Killer's beam struck the UFO and stripped it of its shield just as Poo's Star Master unleashed PSI Starstorm against her. She laughed as the stars impacted her PSI Shield Beta and were reflected back at them. Given how much of a toll the battle had taken on them, she was almost surprised that they survived the first star's impact. However, a second star then struck, then a third, a fourth, and a fifth. A cloud of dust rose from area surrounding the two warriors as the stars of Star Master's own attack struck.

When the dust had settled, Saiyg smiled. She knew that the normal human was already dead, but she could still see the psychic convulsing. Saiyg did not know whether or not he was still alive, but she did not want to take any chances. She stretched out her hand towards the dying man and a ball of fire formed in her hand. She cried, "PSI Fire Omega!"

The ball of fire streaked towards Star Master. When it struck him, it detonated, incinerating him, as well as the body of Poo's Master. Saiyg cackled at the sight of the burning corpses. She only wished that the attack had not killed him so quickly so that he would have screamed in utter agony, just as so many others that she had killed on other planets had.

Poo awakened just in time to see his master and Star Master get struck by Saiyg's PSI Fire Omega. He watched as their bodies burned. They were soon able to extinguish the flames that had covered their bodies. However, they were both severely injured. Poo knew that they would not last long. He knew that he had a responsibility to the people on the plane, though. He had to make sure that they were safe. He quickly took a glance to see if Saiyg was focusing on the plane. So far, she was ignoring it. However, he knew that she would target it soon. He then remembered how much Saiyg had lusted after him and a thought came to his mind and he grinned. He still had a chance to save his master and Star Master while insuring the safety of the plane.

Saiyg stood on top of her command UFO as she surveyed the now desolate kingdom of Dalaam. She sighed. This had not gone as she had wanted. She suffered too many casualties. It was not that she cared about her troops as much as it was that she cared about the reaming that Giygas would give her for the losses. She then activated her radio and said, "All units, retreat to space and rendezvous with Master Giygas to aid in the assault on the Earth city known as Twoson."

A chorus of affirmatives answered her command. Most of the UFOs then proceeded to retreat. Just as Saiyg was about to join them, something caught her eye. She looked into the distance and found a human aircraft fleeing the city. She smiled sadistically. There was still something fun to do here. Saiyg's eyes began to glow a deep blue as raised her arms and cried, "PSI Starstorm Omega!"

Almost instantaneously, green orbs of energy began to fall from the sky. This Starstorm barrage, however, was different from most. Saiyg had overcharged the attack. Each star that struck Dalaam detonated with the force of a tactical nuclear weapon. Star after star rained down upon Dalaam and exploded, destroying large parts of the kingdom. Saiyg could sense that the former object of her lust was onboard the fleeing plane. She was about to target the plane when the psychic feeling vanished from the plane. A curious look crossed her face and she immediately stared down at the two humans who were struggling to approach her and stop her attack.

"Ah, you're still alive," she said loudly. A sadistic grin soon twisted her lips. "That's about to change."

She humped down off of her UFO and cackled maniacally as she approached the injured humans. She stretched out her fingers and unleashed a bolt of PSI Thunder at them. Just as she had launched the attack, though, Poo appeared directly in front of his Master and Star Master. A field of electricity arced over his hands as he stretched out his right hand and caught Saiyg's attack. His arm strained as the bolt of lightning made impact with his arm. After a few seconds of straining, he then forced back the attack and launched it back at Saiyg, adding a bit of his own energy to the attack. Saiyg's eyes widened in shock as her attack had been redirected back at her. She raised her arms in defense, but that was not sufficient. The bolt of lightning struck Saiyg and she shouted out in surprise. The attack, however, was not strong enough to significantly hurt her, though. She then stared back at Poo in anger. She knew she had no choice now. Poo was strong. That could no longer be denied. Even though she was definitely stronger than he was, she realized that he was not so far behind her that he could simply be taken as a slave, especially if he had help in fighting her. She quickly saw that Poo had already stabilized the two other humans that had been fighting her and they were standing with the young human warrior. A tear almost fell from her eyes as she resigned herself to what had to be done. "PSI Starstorm Omega!" she cried once again.

This time, the green orbs of Starstorm began to fall around Poo. Again, though, she had overcharged the attack and they were exploding with almost the force of tactical nuclear weapons. Poo realized that he did not have the strength to face her, even with his Master and Star Master fighting by his side. The stars were coming down all around him. With each impact, another explosion shook the landscape, and produced a mushroom cloud. Poo almost smiled, though. He could use the cover of the explosions and smoke to cover his escape. The stars were beginning to close in on Poo as they fell to the ground. The next group would surely kill him and his master and Star Master. Just as the stars were about to strike, though, he disappeared, and the stars struck the ground, gouging a deep crater into the ground where Poo and his allies had been standing. There were no traces of any bodies remaining. She then psychically scanned the area to see if there were any psychic traces left. Her scan would allow her to see whether or not someone had used a teleportation technique in order to escape. She sensed nothing at all. She shrugged. She was not a great energy sensor, but she viewed herself as sufficient. Her Starstorm barrage was a powerful attack. She figured that their bodies had been annihilated in the attack, which would explain the lack of any bodies or DNA.

Satisfied that Poo and the humans that had been fighting her were dead, she returned her focus to the remains of Dalaam. The kingdom was now in shambles. One more barrage would be more than sufficient to destroy all traces of Dalaam. She rose into the air and floated over to her UFO. Standing on the UFO, she cried out, "PSI Starstorm Omega!"

A third barrage of stars now rained down upon the remains of the ruined kingdom of Dalaam. Each of the stars struck the ground and bored through it for several feet before exploding. A sadistic gleam appeared in Saiyg's eyes as she unleashed her final rain of destruction upon Dalaam. With each impact and explosion, the ground split and the pieces flew into the air. Saiyg cackled as Pink Cloud and Dalaam began to crack apart. She flew away as explosions tore apart Dalaam and engulfed Pink Cloud in a ball of fire. Within a few minutes, all that was left of Dalaam was debris falling back down to Earth. It was all over. Dalaam and Pink Cloud had now been completely obliterated. There was no sanctuary for the psychics of the world now. Saiyg then flew away from the now empty sky, her next target…Twoson.


	4. Paula

Paula:

Paula opened her eyes and found herself back in her house in her bedroom, lying on her bed. The first thing that came to mind was her wondering how she had managed to get here, and how much time had past. The last thing she remembered was being in Onett during Ness's birthday party. She remembered helping to fight off an alien attack on Ness's home. She also remembered a stream of light washing over the party, and then all went blank. The first thing she did upon standing was to check her watch. It said six o'clock P.M. She then checked the clock in her room. It, too, said six o'clock. Good. That meant that she had not been moved forward or backward in time. She then sent out a telepathic signal to see if Ness and the others were nearby. She could sense none of them. She could sense a great number of alien presences, though. She knew that something was up and it seemed as if she was the only one around to deal with any problems at the moment. She quickly got out of her bed and knelt down, looking underneath it. She reached in and pulled out a small container that held some items that she had used during her adventure three years ago. Inside the container was her Earth Pendant and placed it on her chest. This would protect her against Fire, Freeze, and offered some protection against Flash attacks. She then reached underneath her bed once more and pulled out a box. She opened it and inside the box was a Diamond Band. She removed the Diamond Band and placed it on her left arm. Next, she went over to her dresser and opened its drawer. Inside, she found a Talisman Ribbon, which was said to increase her defense, as well as her luck when fighting opponents. That would come in handy if Twoson had already been invaded. She then got her purse off the drawer and slung it over her shoulder.

Once she was finished in her room, she went downstairs to get some food items and some weapons. She went into the refrigerator and pulled out a Brain Food Lunch, a special meal that could both heal her physically, and help restore some of her psychic energy. She also got out a couple samples of Luxury Jerky for healing physical injuries, and two cups of Magic Pudding for restoring psychic energy. She then went over to the cabinet beneath the sink and pulled out a Non-stick Fry Pan. She had hoped that her parents had held onto the Holy Fry Pan that she had used in the later stages in the War Against Giygas, but in a pinch, the Non-stick Fry Pan would suffice. Once she was done equipping herself, she exited her house to see what was going on around town.

Outside, Paula stayed in the shadow of the Polestar Preschool in order to avoid being detected by any enemies that might be present. She then took a look around. What she found was a town that seemed to be empty. She did not think that it was surprising to not see people on the streets. After all, the residents were probably eating dinner right now. However, when she looked at the houses across from the school, she found that all of their lights were off, and there seemed to be no signs of activity inside the houses at all. This looked very suspicious to her, so Paula decided to go and explore Twoson. She emerged from the shadow of the Polestar Preschool and darted towards the Pizza shop, careful to make sure that she was not seen by anyone, human or alien. Then, she decided to make her way around town.

In the hour or so since she had awakened she had found Twoson greatly changed. It was no longer a town that exhibited peace or prosperity. Now, only darkness had descended upon the town. It was like Threed during its zombie outbreak in the War Against Giygas. Almost every person out on the streets at the time was a zombie, complete with gray skin and slow, awkward movements. Paula used her telepathic abilities to see if these were really people merely converted into zombies by technology, or were actually the living dead. She could sense no mind inside the zombies at all, but she could sense an energy permeating them that was controlling them. In essence, the zombies were nothing more than organic robots. She decided that the best course of action was to try to find anyone who may not be a zombie and talk to them. The first place she decided to look would be Peaceful Rest Valley since it was separate from Twoson.

Paula left the cover of the Pizza Shop and headed south along the road towards two houses with signs. One house belonged to the Orange Kid, the second to Apple Kid. Paula knew to avoid the Orange Kid's house. While he was not evil and his house was quite clean, he did exaggerate his technical abilities quite a bit. His inventions were of not much use. However, his next-door neighbor, Apple Kid, was the opposite. The Apple Kid was a slob, and his house was dirty, to say the least, but he was also a brilliant inventor. His inventions had been essential in helping Ness and the others of the Chosen Four during the War Against Giygas. If he was around, he might be able to tell Paula what was going on and give her some help in dealing with whatever was happening. She went down to his house. Upon reaching the front door of his house, she knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again. Again, no answer.

"Hello," Paula called. "Apple Kid, are you home?"

Again, there was no answer. Paula the decided to see if the door was open though she doubted that the door was unlocked. Much to her surprise, the door was, in fact, unlocked. She opened the door and entered. Inside the house, it was just as she had remembered from before. It was unkempt with papers and blueprints strewn all over the floor. She rummaged through the papers to see if there was anything of note. Upon finding nothing of note, she called up the stairs to see if the Apple Kid was either in his bedroom or taking a shower. She got no response. With the realization that he was not here, he decided that the best course of action right now was to see if there were any former inhabitants of Twoson in Peaceful Rest Valley. She was about to leave when she found a Pencil Eraser lying on a table. She quickly went over and took the Pencil Eraser, just in case she needed it. After she got the Pencil Eraser, she exited the house.

Paula headed back north towards the Polestar Preschool. Next, she headed due east. The zombies seemed to not notice the girl, or they did not care. Paula zipped along the road as quickly as she could to avoid detection. When she reached a dirt road she continued until she found a small cave. That small cave connected Twoson to Peaceful Rest Valley. If the citizens of Twoson were anywhere nearby, they would likely be in Peaceful Rest Valley. She walked through the small cave and quickly emerged on the other side.

Upon entering Peaceful Rest Valley she found that it was devoid of normal human life. It was not, however, devoid of zombies and Mooks of the same kind as the Department Store Spook that had kidnapped Paula in Fourside. Facing down Paula were four zombies and two Spooks. Despite the odds stacked against her, Paula smiled inwardly. She had longed to get a chance to fight one of the Spooks herself. Now she would have a chance. The zombies were of no real threat to her. She pointed her fingers at the wave of zombies and fired a stream of PSI Fire in their direction. The zombies were instantly incinerated and reduced to ashes. That left the two Spooks. Her Earth Pendant offered some protection against the Fire and Freeze attacks that the Spooks could use. She would still have trouble if they used Brainshock, PSI Magnet, or Lifeup, but she would take her chances against them.

She started by powering a blast of PSI Fire to its Gamma level and unleashing it at the Spooks. The cone of fire poured all over the Spooks and it seemed as if they would be incinerated. However, Paula knew that a simple PSI Fire Gamma would not be sufficient to take them down, not by a long shot. Paula then readied herself for their counterattack. It came in the form of a snowflake of psychic energy as well as a stream of fire directed right at her. She sidestepped the stream of fire and continued to run around the Spooks as the PSI Freeze Alpha attack followed her. Eventually the snowflake exploded. The outer edges of the explosion managed to catch Paula and she felt an icy energy wash over her left arm. Fortunately, her arm was not frozen and did not catch frostbite. She retaliated with a second PSI Fire Gamma attack against the enemies. Again, fire shot forth from her outstretched hands towards the Spooks and completely engulfed them. However, just as had been with the first attack, they remained standing. This time, however, the Spooks were far worst for the wear. Their tentacled bodies were charred and smoking and long scars ran along their bodies and "arms". Paula knew that she had them. All it would take would be one more attack and they would fall. However, the Spooks were not finished yet. They both cast Lifeup Alpha on themselves and healed some of the damage that Paula had inflicted on them. She could sense the healing energy wash over them as they recovered. However, it would not be enough to save them. They did not even delay the inevitable. All they did was practically tell her which technique to use. She launched another wave of PSI Fire at the Spooks and this time, they did not survive. The fire struck them and their bodies went up in flames. They neither screamed, nor flailed their tentacles. They merely smiled, despite being hit with fatal damage and said in eerie unison, "It does not matter what happens to us. Your entire town is under our control, now. All those who would not serve either fled or died." Then they smiled eerily at her. "Were your parents among the dead?" After they had finished their question, they fell to the ground, the psychic flames consuming the rest of their bodies. Soon, all that remained were ashes.

Paula did not like what the Spooks had said as they were dying. She hoped that they were lying and just trying to give her a scare. If that was their goal then they succeeded. Paula quickly banished that thought from her head. There had to be people left in Twoson, or at least close by. Paula continued on her search through Peaceful Rest Valley, looking for any signs of human or Earthly animal life. Paula searched throughout the valley for the better part of an hour, but found no trace of life. She was beginning to think that the Spooks might have been right. There might not have been anyone left in Twoson. She just hoped that if there was no one left in Twoson, that everyone made it out of the town alive. Not too far ahead, Paula came across what looked to be a gift box. This was strange. Still, she wondered if it might hold a key to finding out what happened in Twoson. She opened the box and inside she found a bomb. This was not the key that she was hoping to find, but she had a feeling that it may prove to be a useful weapon later on, so she stashed it in her purse.

Paula then continued through the valley. She soon found a stream with a bridge standing over it. She crossed the stream and found a second gift box on the other side. She opened the box and found a Croissant inside. She thought that it might prove to be a useful snack should she find herself on another long adventure so she took it. She then continued walking until she found a second bridge crossing another stream. She crossed the bridge and made her way to a cave that led to the former Happy Happy Village, now known as Peaceful Rest Village. On her way, she found a third gift box. She went to the box and opened it. Inside she found a Cup of Lifenoodles, an item that could revive a person who had lost consciousness. She immediately stashed the healing item in her purse and made her way into the cave.

Upon emerging from the cave, Paula found Peaceful Rest Village to be populated. At first, Paula was ecstatic and she breathed a sigh of relief. People were busy mulling about the town, seemingly minding their own business. On closer inspection, however, Paula could see that their actions seemed to be wooden, as if they were acting in a movie, badly at that. Paula quickly noticed that the town was once again named Happy Happy Village and she immediately had a bad feeling about things. This feeling was confirmed when everyone within sight of her turned and saw her, grins and leers twisting their faces. Over thirty villagers were now facing her, the malice evident on their faces. This time, they were not dressed in blue, but Paula knew from her own passive telepathy that they meant her harm, and even worse, that they were not under any form of mind control. These people were evil by choice!

One of the villagers, a big man with blond hair wearing a muscle shirt pulled out a shotgun and pointed it at her. Paula instinctively used her telepathic abilities to try to put the man to sleep. Before he could fire, his aim wavered. The man had trouble keeping his eyes open as he tried to level the gun on Paula. A loud shot rang out as he pulled the trigger and the shotgun fired. Unfortunately, for the man, the shot was off its mark. It was far enough off its mark that none of the pellets managed to strike Paula. Soon, the man fell to the ground, asleep. The rest of the villagers facing Paula then decided to take matters into their own hands. They all pulled out handguns, rifles, and other assorted weapons and took aim at the psychic wonder child.

Paula knew that she could not send a "sleep" signal to all of them, or turn all of the villagers against each other, before they managed to get off at least one shot. Besides, it went against her code of ethics and morals to outright take control of another's mind. However, she was quite willing to use deadly force to defend herself and her friends, which she did. She immediately launched a stream of PSI Fire Beta at the angry mob. The flames engulfed a line of eight villagers and set them ablaze. The heat of the fire also ignited the gunpowder inside the bullets in the magazines of their guns and their weapons exploded. Paula did not stay and wait for the rest of the villagers to open fire. She immediately fled back the way she came, entering the cave as the surviving members of the mob opened fire wildly, hoping that they scored a lucky hit. Inside the cave, she waited, hoping that the exploding magazines managed to kill or injure some of the other villagers, but she did not plan on that being the case. After catching her breath, she rushed through the cave and neared the exit where she sensed the one thing she had hoped was not going to be present in all of this, Starmen. The Starmen were now in Peaceful Rest Valley. She suspected that they were also in Twoson as well. She turned back to face off against the villagers that were coming. She stopped a few dozen feet from the entrance of the cave, careful to keep to the shadows. There, she waited for the rest of the mob to come and attack. She steeled herself for their assault. She would not be kidnapped, or killed, by residents of Happy Happy Village again.

It was not long before the first of the surviving villagers made their way into the cave. There were four villagers, two of them had flashlights and handguns; the others were armed with what looked to be M-16s. She suspected that they were the civilian variants, though, the AR-15s. They looked quite ready to use the weapons. Paula watched from the shadows, hoping that they would not shine their lights on her. She needed to have an edge, and these weapons could allow her to take out her attackers without wasting psychic energy. She hid behind some stones and waited for the four villagers to pass by. She then emerged from behind the stone, lightning crackling between her fingers. She unleashed a blast of PSI Thunder on the four villagers. They cried out and shot their weapons. However, since they were civilian weapons, they only fired one round per trigger pull and thus, they were not able to empty the magazines before the villagers fell, either unconscious or dead. Paula quickly ran up to the fallen villagers and gathered their weapons. She quickly found that one of them had a couple of bombs on them as well. She quickly grabbed the weapons and hid once more.

It was not long before she began to hear the others approach. They made no attempt to hide their presence and were quite loud in their march. These villagers were apparently not thinking very tactically, since Paula could read their minds easily. She knew that their plan was to try to overwhelm her with numbers. She also heard that they were serving the aliens that had come to Twoson and were invading Peaceful Rest Valley as well. She also knew that they were serving the aliens because they were promised lives of ease and luxury, even though Paula suspected that they would be used as nothing more than cannon fodder and that their loss would be of no consequence to the aliens. She quickly scanned their minds to see what their formation was so that she could plan her counterattack. She learned that they were bunched together, and thus, her bombs would be quite effective in dealing with them. She waited until they were within range and she then pushed the activation button on one of her bombs. She then tossed the bomb towards the mob and she ducked behind the stones for cover. The bomb exploded among the mob. Paula could hear the muffled screams and shouts of the mob as the bomb exploded. After a few seconds she extended her telepathic sense once more. She found that all of the members of the mob that had followed her were now dead, and she sensed no one else coming from Happy Happy Village, so she proceeded back to Peaceful Rest Valley.

At the entrance to Peaceful Rest Valley, she looked out into the valley. She found a group of Starmen seemingly standing guard at various points in the valley. She quickly scanned the sky and found several UFOs patrolling the area as well. These looked like they could hold several Starmen or other types of alien being. Paula knew that things were beginning to look bad. She was tempted to scan one of the nearer Starmen, but knowing that they were psychic as well, she did not want to risk detection. She gripped her AR-15 and slowly emerged from the cave and into the valley.

Upon stepping into the valley an alarm sounded from one of the patrolling UFOs. Paula looked up and saw a ledge and a Starman Super standing on it. _Darn it_, Paula thought silently. She knew that the Starmen and UFOs were now coming for her. It was now that she wished that she had an attack like PSI Rockin or PSI Starstorm for dealing with large groups of enemies at once. She could sense the Starmen powering their attacks. She knew that her psychic shielding would be useless against their normal beams. This was when she actually wished that the normal Starmen and Starman Supers _did_ have some powerful psychic attacks. Still, she would not go down without a fight.

Paula immediately started the battle by dancing around the first of the beams fired by two Starmen that were rushing towards her. She took this time to target the Starman Super before he got a chance to fire. She fired a series of rounds from her AR-15. Each round managed to strike the Starman Super in the chest and head. The Starman took a few hits before falling, but eventually, the headshot ended the life of the Starman Super.

That shot was the rifle's last as one of the Starmen's beams struck the rifle, severing the barrel from the rifle. Paula turned and threw the now ineffective rifle at the attacking Starman. This action caught the Starman off guard and he quickly raised his arms to protect himself from the incoming rifle. However, the Starman did not notice the blond girl rushing towards him with a Non-stick Frying Pan in her hands. Nor did he notice that Paula had cast Offense Up and Defense Up on herself as well. She arrived before the Starman could react and bashed him over the head with her frying pan. The Starman slumped forward, stunned, but not killed. Paula then performed a spinning back heel kick and caught the Starman squarely in the head. Paula heard the crack of bones as her foot connected with the Starman's head. The psychically enhanced attacks were sufficient to take down the Starman. Paula then turned and saw a second Starman coming. She fired off a snowflake of PSI Freeze Gamma to freeze the Starman into a block of ice. She then gripped her frying pan once more and rushed the frozen Starman. With a single swing of her frying pan, she shattered the Starman.

She then continued to make her way through the valley, doing her best to avoid taking on any of the Starmen or any of the Lesser Mooks that were currently populating the area. She did not want to waste any more psychic energy fighting these enemies since her reserves were limited. She turned and found several Starmen and Lesser Mooks making their way towards her. She quickly drew out one of her two remaining bombs and activated it. She threw it behind her and covered her ears as it detonated amongst the Starmen and Lesser Mooks. She could barely make out the squeals of the Lesser Mooks and Starmen as she continued towards the exit to the valley and back to Twoson. However, Paula knew that she would not be able to defeat the force pursuing her so easily. She glanced behind her and saw more Starmen coming towards her. She increased her pace and soon found herself near the entrance to the cave. If she had turned around she would have seen the force of Starmen and other enemies peel off and turn away from their pursuit. Still, even without seeing their actions she knew that something was wrong.

She entered the cave and quickly made her way through it back to Twoson until she was met by two Spooks. She gritted her teeth. This was not what she needed right now. The Spooks were even more dangerous than Starmen. She carefully weighed her options. She began the fight by raising a PSI Shield Alpha over herself. That would greatly limit the damage inflicted by other psychic attacks. She quickly used Offense Up and Defense Up on herself to increase her strength and defense as well. She did not want to waste a lot of psychic energy against the Spooks. The Spooks began by unleashing two streams of PSI Fire Alpha. Without a lot of room to maneuver, Paula tried to force the fire to only score an indirect hit on her. The fire washed over her, but her shield managed to hold against it, not letting much of the heat bleed through. Paula then countered by using a PSI Freeze Gamma on one of the Spooks. The snowflake of psychic energy emerged from Paula and streaked towards her target, the closest Spook. The blast of PSI Freeze struck the lead Spook and exploded. The blast was powerful enough to kill him outright. Paula quickly began to wonder why she had not used this attack in the earlier fight against the first pair of Spooks.

The second Spook, realizing that he had no chance against Paula decided to try a different tactic. He used Brainshock Alpha against Paula. Unfortunately, it proved to be unsuccessful. Paula's next blast of PSI Freeze Gamma was not. It made its way towards the unfortunate Spook and detonated. While the Spook was not killed or frozen by the attack, he was slowed down significantly, shivering as a result of being hit. Paula could see that some tentacles had ice formations on them. She quickly decided that the best option was to charge him and finish him off with her frying pan. With a single bash on the head, the Spook fell to Paula's feet. Wasting no time to gloat or look back, Paula quickly rushed back into Twoson.

Inside Twoson she was met with the worst-case scenario that could befall her. Standing in front of her were none other than the leader of the alien invasion from Onett, the young alien girl, Saiyg, as well as at least a hundred Starmen of various types, Mooks, and other aliens and robots awaiting the orders of their leader. Paula gritted her teeth at the sight of the alien force assembled in front of her. "Grrr, darn! Not now!" she growled. Twoson was no longer an option for her.

Saiyg stood with her master at the front of the alien army before the human girl. She looked at the girl standing before and turned towards Giygas, who was staring at Paula, mesmerized. "Awww, no wonder my should-be pleasure slave never wanted me," she whined, seeing Paula and rightfully figuring her to be beautiful for a human girl. "He already had a pretty girlfriend."

The alien girl scowled at the sight of Paula. "You kept the object of my lust from liking me!" Saiyg accussed, pointing her finger at Paula. Paula, however, had no idea what she meant. "Now you will pay for that with your life!"

But before she could launch her attack, Giygas gripped her shoulder. "Wait Saiyg, don't fight her half-cocked," he warned. "That girl may be quite powerful."

Saiyg merely laughed. "Why not?" Saiyg asked, almost giggling.

"Because we don't know how strong she is, and you're still young," Giygas responded sagely. "Let me deal with her."

"Don't worry about me, Master Giygas," she chided. "I'm cute, sexy, and powerful. She's no match for me at all," she proclaimed arrogantly, in addition to posing with almost every word. This would have caused Paula to grin, but Saiyg's addressing the leader as "Giygas" shocked Paula, and her face showed it.

"What?" Paula gasped in shock. "That's not possible." Giygas went to face Paula. "You're dead. We killed you." That statement took Giygas aback.

_Could it be_? Giygas wondered. _Could it be that these four children were the ones who defeated the Universal Cosmic Destroyer_? Saiyg's arrogance really began to unnerve Giygas now. He took Saiyg aside to speak with her. "Listen to me Saiyg, and listen well," Giygas told her. "This girl was surprised at the fact that you called me Giygas. That means that she knows my name, but she was not surprised to see _me_. It was not until she knew my name that she was surprised."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that if she and her friends were able to defeat the Universal Cosmic Destroyer, heck, even if they only _survived_ against it, then these psychics may well be much stronger than we imagined."

"So, what?" Saiyg shrugged. She made no attempt to hide the fact that Giygas's speech and warning was boring her. She then pulled Giygas's face close to hers and looked into his eyes sweetly. "Look, I don't care if she's an archangel of God. I can take her no problem."

Giygas laughed condescendingly at Saiyg, which only fueled her determination. "You are a mere child," he told her. "You have the potential to surpass me, but you also are too arrogant and don't take things seriously. You can't be arrogant when facing humans. They will find a way to win if you give them a chance."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Saiyg said, waving at Giygas. She then looked towards where Paula had been only to find that the human girl was not there.

"Huh? Where'd she go?" Saiyg asked no one in particular.

No one had an answer. The Starmen and the others began to look at each other before simply shrugging. This did not amuse Saiyg at all.

"Find her you imbeciles!" she screeched at the top of her voice, pointing outward. "Find her and don't come back until you do!"

The Starmen and the other aliens and UFOs soon fled from Saiyg and began the search for Paula, terrified of what Saiyg's reaction would be if they could not find her and had to report back to Saiyg of their failure, for they knew all too well just how much pleasure Saiyg took in killing, regardless of who the victim was. Soon, one of the UFOs sounded a signal. Paula had been found nearing Burglin Park. The park had since been abandoned, but had once been a place of commerce and pawning run by a thief named Everdred. Now, the stands in the shop were overturned and practically barren. Two Starmen were making their way towards Paula when she turned and found them approaching. She quickly pulled out her last bomb and tossed it at the Starmen. The bomb bounced and exploded upon contact with one of the Starmen. The Starman practically disintegrated upon the bomb's detonation. His cohort fared little better, being sent flying by the explosion. He landed a ways away from the first Starman, dead.

Paula entered the park and prayed that there would be some weapons in the park that could be useful in her escape from Twoson. In answer to her prayers, she found a bag of Super Bombs next to one of the overturned stands. She picked up the bag of bombs and turned. A Starman Super was approaching with a squadron of Starmen and Lesser Mooks around him. Paula gritted her teeth. She did not have a high enough level for PSI Thunder to one-hit KO the Starman Super and his support. Still, she could inflict damage against them, though they had a lot of psychic resistance. Still, she had little choice. Lightning soon crackled in her hand and she cast a volley PSI Thunder against the Starman Super and his support. She only hoped that she could survive long enough to take them out. The lightning struck the Starman Super and a number of his supporting troops, with electricity arcing across their bodies. Due to their resistance to psychic attacks, the attacks were not fatal, but they still suffered significant damage.

The enemies quickly retaliated with a barrage of beams, weak PSI Fire and Freeze attacks, as well as glares that they hoped would diamondize Paula. However, Paula had taken cover behind one of the overturned stands and avoided their attacks, though the stands had quickly turned into diamonds. She did not care about how wealthy she would be should she survive this fight and sell the diamond that had once been some stand in the park. She still had to survive this battle. She quickly powered a blast of PSI Fire and emerged from cover, unleashing the blast upon the Starman Super. This attack, however, was fatal. The Starman Super was incinerated by the blast of fire due to the damage he had suffered earlier, as were several of his support troops. However, more enemies still continued to approach. These, however, consisted of Beautiful UFOs, small pink UFOs with purple bows on their tops, Cute Li'l UFOs, small gray UFOs with red bows on their tops, and High Class UFOs, small pink UFOs without the bows of Beautiful UFOs. Even worse was the fact that their standard operating procedure was to have a PSI Shield Beta deployed. Paula grimaced. Their flight would make them difficult to target with her Super Bombs. And with the High Class UFOs' PSI Shield Betas, they would be difficult opponents to face to say the least, especially since she was beginning to run low on psychic energy. What she would not have given for a gun or bazooka at this time. Still, she was not out yet.

She began this next fight by targeting the High Class UFOs and Beautiful UFOs with a blast of PSI Thunder Beta. She did not know if the attacks would kill them, but she prayed that they would. Her first volley tore a hole through one of the High Class UFOs, destroying it utterly, and managed to shoot down three Beautiful UFOs. She quickly scanned the area in order to find a means of escape. She could not win against all of these enemies, but if she could split them up and engage them one-on-one or two-on-one, she would have a better chance of victory. She soon found an alley by which she could try to flee. All that stopped her was a Cute Li'l UFO. She brought out her frying pan and she gripped it. She quickly charged the UFO and swung her frying pan at it. The loud clang was music to her ears. She did not stop to see the UFO crash into the tree and fall to the ground where it remained unmoving.

Paula could hear the hum of UFOs as she fled Burglin Park. She turned and fired off a second blast of PSI Thunder Beta. Two more UFOs fell to the assault, but Paula did not stop. She then headed north towards the Chaos Theater. She could sense one of the aliens in pursuit. Turning around for an instant, she found that it was the younger alien, Saiyg, who was coming after her. She hoped to be able to make it into the Chaos Theater in order to have some shelter so she could catch her breath. She wanted to make sure that when she faced off against Saiyg she would do so at full strength.

For the better part of half an hour, she ran towards the theater, darting from shadow to shadow fighting various enemies along the way, always careful to isolate them and fight them one-on-one so she could conserve her psychic energy. She also stopped to pick up any psychic energy restoring items in order to replenish any of her expended psychic energy. Just as she neared the theater, a Starman appeared in front of her, along with what appeared to be two female medieval knights, albeit without horses, and one samurai warrior. The knights' armor was red, while the samurai's armor was gold. That was not the only thing that stood out for Paula. The knights and samurai were armed. Paula grinned. If she could disarm one of the knights, she could use their weapons and take down more of the UFOs that were stalking her without having to expend any psychic energy. The Starman stood forward and actually gave its orders to its cohorts in English, "Juana One, Juana Two, Omega Borg, cover me while I engage."

"Understood, sir," replied two mechanical voices that definitely sounded feminine to Paula's ear.

The Starman began his attack by firing a beam at Paula. Paula zigzagged back and forth, making herself a difficult target for the Starman to get a bead on, as she charged the Starman, hoping to close the distance and turn this into a melee battle as quickly as possible. In order to have a better chance of surviving, she used Offense Up and Defense Up on herself once more. When she reached the Starman, she took a swing at the alien with her frying pan. She made contact with the alien and she heard a clang as the pan met he alien's suit. Since she was so close, and the Starman was having trouble keeping up with her in the fight, he tried to lash out at Paula with his arms. His attempts were in vain as she deftly dodged his every attack. She continued to attack the Starman until he fell, which only took a couple more hits. Before he fell, though, the Starman called out, "Hey everyone, where the heck is my…" _Clonk_. With that last hit, the Starman fell, but Paula knew that she would have to deal with the two Juanas and the Omega Borg.

The Juanas began their fight with Paula by launching a psychic attack that Paula had never seen before. Her eyes went wide as the robotic enemies powered the attack. She could sense the psychic power, but she could not sense a mind inside the robots. It seemed as if there was nothing organic about them. They should not have had the ability to use PSI. She did not have time to ponder this mystery, though, as the robot launched its psychic attack. "PSI Beam Gamma!" the female robot called in its mechanical voice.

Paula barely managed to dodge the PSI Beam Gamma that was fired at her. Paula did not know what PSI Beam consisted of, but even _she_ could feel the power behind it. She knew that if she had been hit by that attack, she would have been killed. The second Juana then fired a blast of PSI Thunder Gamma at her. This was also a surprise, but one that Paula was now prepared for. She dodged the PSI Thunder as well. Wasting no time, she decided that it would be best to try to take out the Juanas with her strongest attacks. She formed a flame in her hand and launched a blast of PSI Fire Gamma at the two Juanas. The Fire engulfed the two Juanas and they were quickly defeated, which surprised Paula. Given their strong attack powers, she had suspected that they would be more resistant to psychic attacks. She shrugged. That just left the Omega Borg, which had a staff that had a suspicious prod-like device on its end that Paula thought might be an energy weapon.

The Omega Borg opened up its fight with Paula by unleashing a PSI Beam Gamma blast at Paula. Paula barely managed to dodge the beam as it sailed by her on her right. She saw that the beam had managed to strike a Spook that had been sneaking up behind her. The beam bored a hole through the Spook as energy surrounded the body and began to disintegrate the body. The unfortunate Spook died instantly, and its partially disintegrated body collapsed behind Paula. Paula winced at the sight. She was now doubly glad that she had not been hit by the PSI Beam that had been fired at her by the Omega Borg as well as the PSI Beams that one of the Juanas had fired at her before.

Paula responded by rushing the Omega Borg and swinging at its head with her frying pan. However, its physical defense was superb and her strike only inflicted minimal damage to the mechanical warrior. Next, the robot took aim with its staff. Paula could tell that it was about to fire a beam towards her. She quickly realized that close combat would be a bad idea, so she decided to use a blast of PSI Thunder Beta. Lightning crackled between her fingers as the Omega Borg was beginning to target Paula with the staff. Paula then unleashed the lightning at the Omega Borg. The lightning struck the Omega Borg and lightning arced across its body. Sparks began to erupt from the robot and smoke began to rise from various joints as it convulsed. Eventually, the robot fell. Paula went over to the robot and picked up its weapon. She poked the robot with the prod and scanned the weapon. She saw a red button protruding from the staff near other end of the staff and she pushed it while aiming the prod at the fallen robot. A bolt of green energy erupted from the prod-like device and blew a hole into the fallen robot's head. If it was not destroyed by Paula's attack, it was destroyed now. Paula did not smile at the sight, though. She knew that while she now had an energy weapon, the fact that it was a staff, rather than a gun, meant that it would be harder to aim, especially since it had no sight to speak of. Still, it was better than nothing, so she quickly quit the scene and made her way towards the Chaos Theater, hoping that she could rest there for a little bit and at least gather her thoughts so she could plan her escape from Twoson. As she moved towards the Chaos Theater, she glanced behind her to make sure that she was not being followed by UFOs or by other enemies. Upon turning, though, she found that there were seven Beautiful UFOs and a couple High Class UFOs chasing after her. She quickly decided that now was the perfect time to the effectiveness of the Omega Borg's staff blaster.

Paula turned to face the oncoming UFOs. The UFOs, seeing that she had turned to face them, fired green beams from their undersides at her. Paula danced around their beams, making herself a difficult target for the UFOs, but quickly realizing that she would have trouble using the staff as a weapon if she kept having to dodge the beams they fired at her. She quickly found an abandoned bench and dove behind the bench. The UFOs stopped firing on her for a second so that they could get a better angle on her position. She used this opportunity to take aim at the leading High Class UFO, since that was the most dangerous enemy present at the moment, and was only five yards away. She fired a single blast of energy at the UFO. The resulting blast scored a glancing hit against the High Class UFO, inflicting a burn mark on the craft. Sparks erupted from the craft as the UFO began to smoke as it fell from the sky and softly hit the ground, still functional, but unable to fly. Paula frowned. This weapon was not very accurate at range. She quickly took aim at the remaining UFOs and fired blast after blast of energy. Green bolts of energy filled the space between Paula and the UFOs that were attacking her. A few of her blasts hit their mark, but others missed entirely. After her first volley, the second High Class UFO was destroyed, as were two Beautiful UFOs.

The remaining UFOs backed away then opened fire on Paula. She knew that she did not have a chance of hitting the remaining UFOs at range with any reliability, as did the UFOs. She quickly decided that it was time to move again. This standing around may well have been a plan simply in order to keep Paula pinned down while other UFOs came to reinforce the force that she was currently engaged in battle against. Paula emerged from her cover and ran in an unpredictable zigzag pattern, doing her best to make herself a difficult target for the UFOs and any allies of theirs that might be behind them.

Soon, she was close to the theater. She could see that the gray building looked deserted. It was completely dark and silent, which Paula would have found strange since it was night, but right now, she was simply hoping that the lack of light emanating from the theater, and the lack of sounds issuing forth from it meant that it was abandoned. The massive neon letters that read "Chaos Theater" were blank. Paula hoped that this was a good sign. Before continuing towards the theater she turned back to see if any more enemies were pursuing her. She did not want to be surprised inside the theater and have to turn back only to face more enemies. She found that the surviving UFOs had now been joined by a couple of Starman Supers, several Starmen, as well as a few Omega Borgs and four Juana armored suits. Paula knew that she had poor odds of surviving a battle against a force like that with her current psychic arsenal. She did, however, still have the staff blaster and the Super Bombs.

Paula pulled out a couple of Super Bombs from their bag and pushed their activation buttons. She then tossed them towards the enemy force that was closing in on her. The two bombs clattered on the ground near the Starman Supers and the Starmen supporting them. The two bombs exploded, throwing the bodies of the Starmen flying in all directions. Several of the other enemies were also caught in the blast of the Super Bombs. After a few seconds, Paula found that all of the Starmen, both normal and Super, were either dead or unconscious and likely severely injured. She was relieved to see that one of the Omega Borgs, one of the Juana suits, and a couple of the remaining UFOs had also been destroyed. However, the other remaining Omega Borgs, Juanas, and UFOs still approached, but their numbers were far more manageable right now. Even better was the fact that some of the Omega Borgs and Juanas looked to have sustained damage from the bombs' explosions.

Paula took this opportunity to power a snowflake of PSI Freeze to its Beta level and unleash it at one of the fresher looking Juanas. The snowflake of energy streaked towards the robot, the robot powering its own psychic attack, Paula believed it to be a variation of PSI Thunder. However, the PSI Freeze struck the robot before the robot had finished powering its attack. The snowflake of psychic energy exploded and encased the Juana in a block of ice. Paula quickly followed up with a second blast of PSI Freeze Beta and froze a second Juana into a block of ice.

The remaining Juana and Omega Borgs quickly took cover behind their frozen comrades as they powered their most powerful single target psychic attacks, PSI Beam Gamma. Paula took this brief lull to toss another Super Bomb towards the hiding enemies. The enemies noticed the bomb too late. The Super Bomb detonated and reduced the hiding Juana and Omega Borgs to scrap metal. That simply left the remaining Beautiful UFOs for Paula to deal with. Since they did not have psychic shields up, Paula decided that the best thing to do was to deal with them by taking them down individually. She launched a snowflake of psychic energy at the lead Beautiful UFO. She watched as the snowflake reached its target and detonated, encasing the flying saucer in ice. The saucer quickly fell to the ground where it shattered. Paula quickly raised her defense using Defense Up so she would be able to survive the counterattack launched by the two other Beautiful UFOs.

The attack came in the form of green beams of energy emerging from the bottoms of the craft. Paula did her best to dodge the onslaught of energy headed her way, and managed to do a pretty good job. Only a couple of blasts managed to strike her. Her increased defenses ensured that she only suffered some burns to her dress. She looked down at her chest and saw the two burn marks over her heart, signifying the locations where she had been hit by the UFOs' beams. She scowled. She had always liked this dress, and now it was ruined. Still, she did not let her annoyance show. She quickly powered a second blast of PSI Freeze and unleashed it at the second Beautiful UFO. The UFO performed a series of evasive maneuvers, but was unable to avoid the blast radius of the icy explosion. This UFO, too, was encased in ice, and upon its freezing it fell to Earth, where it shattered into a thousand pieces. This left only one Beautiful UFO on the battlefield. Paula risked a glance behind the UFO to see if there were any reinforcements coming. So far, she found none. She then extended her psychic senses beyond visual range. She found that everyone in the town, as well as in the valley, were looking for her, but that she had not been found and that the party she was facing was alone, for the moment.

Paula then powered one last blast of PSI Freeze Beta and unleashed it at the remaining Beautiful UFO just as the UFO was targeting Paula. The UFO did not even try to perform evasive maneuvers as the snowflake of psychic energy streaked towards it. It simply fired a beam in Paula's general direction. The beam struck the ground in front of Paula, and gouged a small hole in the pavement, but missed the girl completely. The same could not be said with regards to Paula's attack and the UFO. The Freeze Beta reached the UFO and exploded in a shower of icy snowflakes. The UFO was instantly encased in ice, and it too met its end when it fell to the pavement and shattered. The battle was over, for the moment.

Paula quickly turned to go towards the theater when she found two New Age Retro Hippies, and a couple of Annoying Old Party Men. Paula wondered how she had managed to miss them in her scan. The all too familiar Hippies were dressed in open blue short-sleeved jackets and white t-shirts with red pants, large red afros, along with a red beard and mustache. Paula remembered that they often used rulers and toothbrushes to attack. As for the Annoying Old Party Men, they were wearing business suits. Paula figured that they may have been at a bar before either joining, or being forced to join, the aliens' army. Paula could also tell that the Party Men must have had too many drinks, if not by their blushing, then by the fact that they were even thinking of facing her, even in a four-on-one situation. The Hippies also seemed to be possessed by something that destroyed their sense of self-preservation. Before Paula went to engage them, though, she quickly scanned their minds to see if they were willing collaborators or were being mind-controlled. She found that they were being mind-controlled fairly quickly and she chose to take them down softly. However, the four enemies took matters into their own hands by charging Paula.

The leader of the group, a New Age Retro Hippy, pulled out a ruler and took a swipe at Paula. She dodged his attack and performed a leg sweep, knocking him off his feet. Next came one of the Annoying Old Party Men. Before he could attack, Paula punched him in the stomach, which forced the man to exhale. Paula then struck him with an elbow in the back to knock him to the ground. Before the others could attack, Paula launched a weak PSI Thunder at the two remaining enemies. Lightning arced across their bodies as they were struck by the weak psychic attack. The two enemies then fell to the ground, unconscious, but not dead or even seriously injured. What was more important, though, was the fact that they had been freed of their brainwashing. Paula then did the same thing to the two enemies she had defeated in the physical fight at her feet. She then made her way towards the Chaos Theater.

Before she could get far, though, she heard a voice behind her. "Wait," it croaked. She turned and found that one of the New Age Retro Hippies was awake, free of his brainwashing. Paula stopped and turned as the Hippy rose unsteadily to his feet. "There are things you have to know," he said in a weary voice.

"What things?" Paula asked; her curiosity piqued by his statement.

"First of all, you are not the primary target of the PSI Aliens." Paula figured that the PSI Aliens referred to the leader of the invasion and his younger cohort. "Your strength took them completely by surprise."

Paula seemed to be quite surprised at what this Hippy was telling her. She noticed the others beginning to awaken. She told him, "So what were they expecting?"

The Hippy responded, "They were expecting some relatively strong resistance, but not from you, and not here. They had been hoping to kidnap you and take you to some place called Mount Itoi. I don't know where that is, but I think that it may be their main base, or something. All I know is that Twoson is only a forward outpost to these guys, and a hastily made one at that. The villagers in Happy Happy Village and Peaceful Rest Valley were not originally from there. They seem to have been collaborators that had already made contact with the aliens even before today. Most of the original inhabitants of those two areas fled with the rest of the Twoson population. Besides us, you are the only original inhabitant left in Twoson."

Paula's eyes then lit up. While she did not understand care about all of what was being said, she began to wonder if this man knew what happened to her parents. She then asked him, "Do you know what happened to my parents?"

The Hippy shook his head, as did the other people, who had just awakened. "We don't know. Heck, even the PSI Aliens don't know what happened to your parents, or the parents of a few other kids for that matter. They had not expected the 'Go Somewhere Beams' to work on them."

That answer both gave Paula hope, but also scared her a bit. While the aliens did not know where her parents were, there was the prospect of her parents being lost forever as well. She then thanked them and told them, "Find someplace to hide. My home, the Polestar Preschool, is open. You might also want to try the Bus Station. You might be able to get a bus and head out of here."

"All the exits are blocked," one of the Party Men informed her.

Paula then frowned. "Then all I can say is do your best to stay out of sight, and if you're found, try to blend in. The Bicycle Shop may be a good place to hide for the time being, there or either the Department Store or the Hotel since they're close by. It's me they want. I'll do my best to try to get us all out of this mess."

The others then thanked Paula as they headed off towards the Bicycle Shop. Paula took one last scan of their minds, just to make sure that they would not betray her. She quickly found that their feelings were genuine and that they would not betray her. She did not like scanning targets behind their backs and against their will, but she also knew how easy it would be for traitors to hide in a place like this, especially since the Aliens had already taken over. She then made her way towards the door of the Chaos Theater. Upon reaching the door, she tried to open it. She found that the door was locked. She then used a weak version of PSI Fire to melt the lock and allow her entrance to the building. She then went inside and closed the door.

The inside of the building was dark, due to it being night and the building being unoccupied. Paula fumbled around in the dark until she felt some large door handles. She quickly pushed the doors open and entered. There, she felt the wall for a light switch. She wanted to make sure that only the smaller, dimmer lights came on, and not the larger ones for shows. While she wanted to be able to see where she was going, she did not want to draw any attention to the theater, and thus to her location. She quickly found a light switch and turned on the lights. The lights flickered for a bit before turning on. The soft light was dim, but at least, she could now see.

The light revealed a group of tables. She could see that they had been set for a concert that would have been performed later tonight. Paula doubted that there would be any performances with the PSI Aliens having taken over Twoson. She neared one of the tables in the back of the theater and sat in a chair. She quickly unslung her purse and set it down on the seat next to her. She then opened it and grabbed took out the Croissant and her two cups of Magic Pudding. Then she began to eat. The battle earlier had made her famished, especially since she had not eaten very much at Ness's party. It was not very much, but at least it helped satisfy her hunger for the time being. The Magic Pudding was especially useful since it helped Paula recover her psychic energy.

When she had finished eating, she quickly took stock of her inventory. She still had the Brain Food Lunch and the two Luxury Jerkies as well as the Cup of Lifenoodles. As for other weapons, she still had two Super Bombs left in her bag, as well as the staff blaster she had taken from the fallen Omega Borg. It was not much, but she hoped that with her restored health and somewhat restored psychic energy that it would be enough for her to hopefully find a way out of Twoson and into Threed. Paula prayed that Threed was not infested with zombies, ghosts, or PSI Aliens as well.

Just as Paula was about to leave, the rest of the lights immediately came on. Spotlights showed on stage and flashed all around her. It was as if a concert was about to go on. Paula turned towards the stage and found that the spotlights were shining on her and on a cat-like seemingly humanoid figure floating above the stage. Paula's eyes narrowed as she focused on the all too familiar figure. It was Saiyg, the younger of the two PSI Aliens that had come to Twoson. Saiyg stared at Paula, grinning.

"Well, well," Saiyg started. "Fancy meetin' you here." Saiyg then gave off a sadistic laugh. She then shrugged. "I suspected that those idiots wouldn't be able to find you or capture you. I guess that it'll be left up to me to get the job done." Saiyg then grinned evilly towards Paula.

Paula quickly bolted for the door, not wanting to engage a PSI Alien in a battle if she could avoid it, but before she could reach it, the door slammed shut, and a force field flickered into existence around the door.

"Uh, uh, uhhh," Saiyg gloated, wagging her finger as she floated down from the stage towards Paula. "I can't have you leave. I've been lookin' all over town for you. And now I've finally found you. I'm now gonna do what none of the other morons in our army could. I'm gonna kill you!" The last bit was said with glee.

Paula then gave a grin. She pulled out her Non-stick Fry Pan and assumed a defensive posture. She knew that Saiyg would be a difficult, if not impossible, opponent to defeat. But if she played her cards right, she might have a chance of escaping. Saiyg laughed at Paula's preparation for the battle.

"What? No running away, or begging for your life? Not that it would do you much good," Saiyg taunted.

"You're pretty confident," Paula commented, finally speaking to the PSI Alien girl. "Let's see if you're as good as you think you are."

Saiyg then grinned. "Yeah, let's!"

Paula began the fight by moving in between the tables that were set along the floor. Saiyg's first attack was a beam of PSI Beam Gamma. Paula immediately took cover behind one of the tables, allowing the attack to strike the table. The attack struck the table and dispersed. The beam did little damage to the table, but Paula still knew from previous experience that it would have been instantly fatal if it had hit her. Her retaliation was a blast of PSI Thunder Beta. Lightning leapt from Paula's fingertips and, almost at the speed of light, struck Saiyg. Lightning arced all around Saiyg's body. Saiyg gave off a cry, but it was more akin to a cry of pleasure than pain, which only served to unnerve Paula.

"Yes!" Saiyg cried. "More! Give me more! Make it stronger!" Saiyg looked down at the human girl's discomfort and grinned. "By the way, I am as good as I think I am," Saiyg added on a more serious note.

Saiyg's retaliation was a blast of PSI Thunder of her own. This one, however, was at its Omega level. Paula barely managed to avoid suffering a direct hit from the attack as it scorched a path towards Paula. However, the outer edges of one of the lightning bolts erupting from Saiyg's fingers did manage to strike Paula. Since she was also a strong psychic, she was not instantly electrocuted by the attack. Still, she suffered some pretty severe damage. She stumbled and fell to the ground. As she attempted to rise, she turned to find the PSI Alien standing over her. Saiyg reached down and picked up Paula by the throat, making sure to squeeze as she brought the human girl to her face.

"Looks like you're the one who's gonna die tonight, baby," Saiyg mocked arrogantly. However, Paula still had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Saiyg quickly felt a warm sensation near on her abdomen. She looked down and saw Paula's right hand practically touching Saiyg's navel. However, it was not Paula's hand that was touching her navel, but the flame at the end of her hand. Paula quickly unleashed a stream of PSI Fire at its Gamma level. Since her hand was practically in physical contact with Saiyg's body, the Fire was quite powerful, and effective. Saiyg cried out in surprise as the stream of fire burned her abdomen. She let go of Paula, who fell to the floor, as Saiyg used her own psychic strength to try to limit the damage. She quickly raised a psychic counter shield over herself to protect herself from Paula's next psychic attack. But Paula's next attack was not a psychic attack, it was physical. She performed a leg sweep and managed to knock Saiyg off her feet. Saiyg hit the floor with a thud. Paula quickly followed up with a bash to Saiyg's head from her Non-Stick Fry Pan. Paula noticed a small line of blue liquid oozing from Saiyg's head. While the strike managed to daze Saiyg, it did not knock her unconscious. She immediately disappeared from the floor and reappeared near the exit, blue blood still leaking from the cut on her head. She now glared at Paula.

"Look at what you've done!" she cried out in rage. "You've ruined my sexiness! You're gonna pay for that!"

Saiyg then proceeded to use PSI Lifeup on herself to heal the damage that Paula had inflicted on her body. Immediately, the blue blood dried and had Paula been close enough, she would have heard a sucking sound as the small cut closed. Saiyg's eyes began to glow deep green. She was furious. She would not allow some human girl to get away with disgracing her like this. She quickly used her telekinesis and the tables that had been set on the ground began to rise into the air. Paula used Defense Up on herself in preparation for the vicious assault that would come at her. After a few seconds, the first of the tables began to fall. The first one fell when it was right over top of her. She scurried out of the way of the table and it smashed into the floor only a few feet away from Paula, splinters assaulting her dress and body. Then the next table came down. Again, Paula scurried on all fours in order to avoid the table, which she was barely able to do. She soon found herself near the wall at the back of the theater. The next few tables rocketed towards Paula making a beeline for her head. She ducked as the first table smashed into the wall above her, taking out a large amount of plaster, missing her head by mere inches. Paula quickly dove out of the way of the second table as it crashed into the space on the floor that she had been occupying a moment earlier. The third time was the charm, for Saiyg. This table rocketed towards Paula and managed to strike her. It was as if a freight train slammed into Paula's abdomen and sent her flying. Had Paula's defense not been increased by Defense Up, she would likely have had several broken bones and damaged internal organs, if she would have survived at all. However, with her increase in defense, she only suffered a few bruises. Saiyg quickly grabbed Paula in a telekinetic hold and lifted the girl into the air. She then sent her flying onto the stage. Paula landed with a thud, causing the wood on the stage to crack at the point of impact, and she skidded a few feet away to a halt. She gave a prayer of thanks that she was not severely injured by the throw. Paula quickly augmented her increased defense with a PSI Shield Alpha. She hoped that that would be sufficient to protect her from Saiyg using telekinesis against her again.

Saiyg stared at Paula from the exit and grinned as she began to float over to the stage, and to the fallen girl, who was struggling to stand. She knew that Paula was not the strongest fighter in the world, physically, and she had already neutralized Paula's psychic powers by raising a PSI Shield Beta over herself. She then decided to use PSI Power Up, which increased both her strength and defense. There was nothing that Paula could do that would threaten her. At least, that was what Saiyg thought. Paula, however, had other ideas. However, Saiyg was also about to get some assistance. For soon, the wall that surrounded the exit exploded inward, showering debris onto the floor. Not far behind Saiyg, Paula saw a Starman Deluxe along with six Starman Supers, over a dozen normal Starmen, and countless Juanas, Omega Borgs, Mooks of various types, and other types of strange and disturbing aliens. Saiyg quickly looked back at her reinforcements and scoffed.

"Stay away boys," she said in a sultry voice. "I'll handle this competitor by myself." She then grinned as she approached Paula.

Paula knew that she had little hope of defeating Saiyg, and next to no chance against the reinforcements that had arrived. And if that many enemies had arrived, Paula figured that their leader would not be far behind. It was then that Paula began to pray in earnest. "Dear God, please help me," she prayed. "I don't think that I can do this on my own. Please grant me the strength to get through this."

As if in answer to her prayers, Paula felt a wave of invisible and incomprehensible healing energy wash over her. Her cuts and bruises immediately disappeared. Her psychic power returned to full strength. Suddenly, she knew that she at least had a chance of escaping this situation, if not outright winning the fight. That was not all, either. She began to feel something else, as if she had just realized another psychic power. Just then, a plan began to form in her mind.

Paula immediately drew out one of her remaining Super Bombs out of her bag and pushed its activation button. She immediately threw it with all of her might towards Saiyg. Saiyg saw the attack coming from a mile away and used telekinesis to suspend the bomb in midair a few feet away and gave a chuckle. She tried to scan Paula's mind in order to find out what the human girl's plan was, but Paula's mind was closed to her. It was then that the bomb exploded, blinding Saiyg for an instant and pelting her body with shrapnel. Her psychic shield was useless in protecting her from normal attacks, so the shrapnel managed to strike her body directly, some of the pieces managing to pierce her skin. Blue blood leaked from several minor cuts.

Saiyg cried out in pain and anger as the shrapnel managed to inflict damage on her body. She quickly used Lifeup to heal the damage and prepared to launch an attack on Paula. However, she did not know that Paula still had one more Super Bomb. Paula let Saiyg know about the bomb by tossing it towards her. Saiyg responded by raising a Shield Omega over her body. The bomb bounced towards the PSI Alien girl and detonated. The shrapnel propelled by the bomb impacted her shield and then rocketed back towards where Paula had been standing. However, Paula was not there. She had taken cover behind a table that had been overturned on stage. But that was not all to Paula's plan. While she had dodged the shrapnel, she had launched a snowflake of PSI Freeze Omega towards Saiyg. Saiyg was not even aware of the snowflake of psychic energy streaking towards her. She heard a voice belonging to Giygas ring out over the battle, "Saiyg, watch out!"

But by the time she had been warned of the attack, it was already too late for the PSI Alien. The snowflake of psychic energy struck Saiyg and exploded. The explosion of the PSI Freeze attack encased Saiyg in a block of ice.

Giygas could scarcely believe what he saw. Saiyg had been defeated by the human girl, even if it was seemingly due to a stroke of luck. He quickly noticed that Paula was pointing the staff of an Omega Borg at Saiyg. He tried to intercept her, but he was not fast enough. Paula fired an energy blast at the frozen Saiyg as Giygas dove to intercept the blast. The green energy pulse flashed past Giygas's face, missing him by merely in inch, struck Saiyg and shattered her into a thousand pieces. "No!" Giygas screamed as Saiyg was shattered by the green energy pulse. Paula made certain that nothing was salvageable by incinerating Saiyg's remains with a stream of PSI Fire. Giygas collided with the ground, knowing that he had failed.

Giygas slowly rose and went over to Saiyg's ashes and looked down. He then looked up at Paula. "She was only the equivalent of fourteen of your Earth years old," Giygas said in a low, harsh voice, not concealing his anger. "She was my apprentice, and like a daughter to me."

"She also attacked this town and took great pleasure in killing," Paula countered. "I was defending myself." She then narrowed her gaze on Giygas. "Why are you here, and how are you still alive?"

"I am here to prevent PSI from spreading onto the Earth," Giygas answered. "And should it spread to Earth, I am to limit its spread. It is the mandate of our people to ensure that we are the only psychic race in existence. As for how I am alive, I don't know what you mean. We have never met before."

"We destroyed you innumerable years in the past," Paula stated, pointing towards Giygas. "Your human minion was Porky Minch. You were a formless seemingly gaseous entity. You are the Universal Cosmic Destroyer Giygas."

"Ahh," Giygas said, a look of comprehension crossing his face. "So you have encountered me, after a fashion." Giygas smiled, but there was no mirth in it. "Yes, I am Giygas. Or more accurately, I am what was cast out of Giygas when he became the Universal Cosmic Destroyer and the Embodiment of All Evil, his true mind and soul, his conscience. I was, in essence, Giygas's good side. When I was cast out, a new shell immediately formed over me, a new body if you will," Giygas explained. "I was practically reborn, while the Universal Cosmic Destroyer Giygas went into the past to hide, since his mind was destroyed by the transformation, the Devil's Machine being the only thing that allowed him to think rationally. For me, though, when I was cast out of him, I still retained some evil, or at least the capacity to perform evil actions. I am, in essence, just like you. I have free will. I have merely chosen to follow the mandate of my people, to prevent the spread of PSI to other races, especially if they have the potential to become powerful psychics. And humans have a great deal of psychic potential."

"But why are you doing this?" Paula asked again in earnest. She could sense that Giygas was holding something back. "What is your real reason for doing this?"

Giygas scowled. "I have given you my answer," he told her. He then motioned for the other aliens to approach. Turning to them, he ordered, "Capture or kill this girl at once."

"Yes, Master," the leading Starman Super responded.

The aliens then began to approach Paula. She began to feel a new sensation wash over her again. She looked at her hands and noticed that she seemed to be sweating profusely. At first, she was concerned, but suddenly, something clicked in her mind. She had just realized another psychic power, a form of hydrokinesis. Paula faced down the oncoming horde of enemies and she held out her arms. "PSI Torrent!" she cried out and instantaneously, a tsunami of water issued forth from her hands. The deluge of water crashed down on the approaching aliens and forced them back through the broken wall, those that were not slammed into and even through it, and crashed into the wall to the outside of the theater. Giygas's PSI Shield Beta had protected him from the attack and sent some of the water back at Paula, but she was still under the protection of her PSI Shield Alpha, and thus, was not injured by her attack. The same could not be said for the others in Giygas's force, though. As the flood of water receded, it was revealed that most of the Starmen and other aliens and robots were dead or severely injured. Only the few Starman Supers continued to stand against Paula, though their movements were wobbly and disjointed. A single blast each from her staff blaster put down the injured aliens. The problem was that since she had been found, everyone was now converging on her location.

A Starman Deluxe teleported in front of Giygas and coming to reinforce the two of them were more UFOs of various types, more Starmen, Starmen Supers, and several other robots and aliens flooding into the theater, stepping over the dead comrades to get a chance to take on Paula. The enemies quickly gathered and presented a united front against Paula.

Paula knew that she would not stand much of a chance against all of the enemies. She also knew that her back was literally against the wall. Her only chance of escape was to fight through this force of enemies so she decided to give it her best shot. She decided to start with another blast of PSI Torrent. A tidal wave of water began to form in her hand. She immediately cast another PSI Torrent on the oncoming mob of enemies. Again, water crashed over them and sent then reeling. After the water receded, the hallway leading out of the Chaos Theater was lined with more fallen aliens and robots. Paula also saw an opening and decided to take it, even though the UFOs had managed to fly above the wave of water.

Holding onto her staff, Paula took some shots at the flying UFOs as she ran towards the exit. She scored a few hits, with more hits being scored as she neared the UFOs. However, the UFOs struck back. Several of their energy beams managed to score direct hits on her. Only her increased defense allowed her to survive the assault relatively uninjured. While she was running, she felt the same sensation that she had felt earlier when she had realized PSI Torrent. She did not ignore the sensation, but she still focused more heavily on fighting her way out of the theater. She quickly made it through the hole in the enemy lines and made her way outside the Chaos Theater.

Outside is where the rest of her escape route was cut off, for lining the streets were countless Starmen, Starmen Supers, several Starmen Deluxes, elves, and countless more Mooks, Spooks, and other aliens and enemies, some of them human collaborators. Paula then turned around and saw the Starman Deluxe that had teleported into the theater standing in front of Giygas. One thing that Paula knew was that no matter how many aliens lined the street; all of them together would not be able to defeat Giygas. She knew that she had gotten lucky when she had fought Saiyg. She did not want to risk having to be that lucky again. She saw no way out of this horrible scenario. She knew that this would be her last stand. However, Paula would not go down without a fight.

She started her attack by raising a new psychic shield, it was a PSI Shield Beta. This would protect her against the psychic attacks of the Starman Deluxes and the Mooks and other enemies that possessed PSI. She then turned towards the first line of aliens that crossed her vision and launched a wave of PSI Torrent towards the line of aliens, which included a couple Starman Deluxes. She knew that the Starman Deluxes would not die from her attack since they had PSI Shield Betas as well, but they would suffer some noticeable damage should the attack not dissipate before their shields collapsed. Indeed, their shields did collapse before Paula's shield and all of the energy that the attack had built up was sufficient to kill the Starman Deluxes. Paula continued to run past the lines and ran into another wall of enemies. This time, they consisted of UFOs and Juanas.

Paula quickly launched a second wave of PSI Torrent at this group of attackers. The wave of psychic water crashed into the force and sent them reeling. After the waters had receded, all of the ground-based enemies were destroyed. Paula quickly fired off several shots from her staff at the UFOs and managed to take down many of them before more enemies began to join the fray. It was now that Paula was beginning to feel fatigue, especially with regards to her psychic energy. She knew that she had enough power for at least one more PSI Torrent. So, she decided that it was now all or nothing. She would not go alone. She summoned the rest of her psychic energy and summoned a third tidal wave of psychic energy. This wave crashed down onto the enemy force and managed to inflict massive damage to them. This wave took out more than fifty of the enemy, most of them consisting of Mooks, Juanas, and Borgs of various types. Still, that left hundreds of enemies.

The aliens knew that Paula was weakened, but many of them still launched psychic attacks against her. A Starman Deluxe launched a Starstorm barrage against Paula, which was reflected back by Paula's psychic counter shield. Even though the Starman Deluxe's own PSI Shield Beta reflected the damage back to Paula, several of the stars fell among his cohorts, mostly Beautiful UFOs and Lesser Mooks, killing them. Not long after, several aliens began to engage Paula in close combat. While Paula had been training in the martial arts for the better part of three years, she was not a black belt yet, and she was vastly outnumbered. She held her staff out and fired on any alien or robot foolish enough to approach. She felled a blue Juana-like robot suit of armor with a blast of energy from her staff, but many more came to join the fight. She soon swung the staff around her body and began to beat on the enemies, knocking them to the ground. First one robot fell, then another, and another, and another. Paula was piling the deactivated carcasses of various robots at her feet. She soon shot a normal Starman with a blast of green energy from her staff, burning a round hole in the Starman's chest. The Starman fell to the ground never to rise again. A similar fate befell his comrade as well. However, there were too many for Paula to fight, and eventually, she was overwhelmed. Still, many more enemies fell before Giygas eventually joined in and hit her with a controlled PSI Beam Gamma. The beam struck Paula in the chest and a green field of energy arced across her body before she fell to the floor and remained there, motionless. Her only signs of life were the rise and fall of her chest.

Giygas approached the fallen girl, whose dress was now a torn set of rags that barely clung to her body and kept her decent. He then examined the carnage around him. Too many of his forces had been defeated here by this girl. Over a hundred of his soldiers, stronger soldiers at that, lied on the ground dead, and many more were wounded, and some of them would not survive their injuries. What had hurt the most, though was the loss of Saiyg. Her loss alone counted more than all of the other losses combined, and she may well have been worth more than the entire army. Still, he had won the day, eventually. One of the Starman Deluxes soon approached and looked down at the fallen girl.

"Master, should I kill her?" he asked in an almost mechanical voice, leaning down and putting his tentacle-like arm around Paula's throat.

As tempted as Giygas was to give him the right to kill her, he had other plans for the girl. "No," Giygas said harshly, shaking his head. His tone made it certain, though, that his harshness was directed soley at Paula. "I have another use for her." He paused for a moment before giving his orders. "Take her to Happy Happy Village. I will be there shortly. Then the experiment can begin."

"Understood, Master," the Starman Deluxe responded. With that, the Starman took Paula to Happy Happy Village, accompanied by over a dozen Starman Supers and thirty-six Starmen.


	5. Jeff Chapter 1

Jeff – Chapter 1:

Jeff Andonuts suddenly found himself inside a dark, gray room inside some building. He blinked his eyes in shock. This was a stark contrast to the green setting of Onett, and Ness's house. He then tried to remember how he had wound up in this room. All he remembered was a green wave of energy washing over his body, and suddenly, he was here. What was more startling was the fact that he was fully awake. He did not remember opening his eyes from sleep. It was just one instant he was in Onett fighting off a group of UFOs with his friends, the next he was in this dark room. But where was he? Jeff quickly took stock of his inventory. He still had the Counter Telepathy helmet that he had worn in Onett. He then opened his jacket and felt for his laser pistol, which he had also had during his battle. He felt its outline and was relieved. He was not defenseless. Next he fumbled around in the dark, searching for a light switch. He soon found what looked to be the wall and felt his way around the wall for the next minute or so as his eyes were beginning to get acclimated to the dark. Eventually, he found the light switch. He flicked the switch to the "on" position and immediately light flooded the room, and his senses. Jeff closed his eyes and placed his arms over his face due to the brightness of the light. He then opened his eyes and blinked for a few seconds, allowing himself to become acclimated to the light before scanning the room that he found himself in.

The room had a table in the center that had not seen use for a long time. It was covered with dust and cobwebs. The chairs were also just as dusty as the table. The room, itself, also seemed to be quite dirty. It looked almost as if a war had gone on in this room. The paint on the walls was cracked in numerous places, there were even holes inside the walls themselves. In addition, papers were strewn all across the floor. Jeff knelt down and picked one up. There were figures on the paper colored red and blue. From the positions on the paper, Jeff guessed that these may have been battle plans and scenarios. He quickly dropped the paper and picked up another. This one seemed to have plans of some sort for some sort of craft called "The White Ship". He placed the plans on the ground and soon saw a small card. Jeff picked it up and saw that it appeared to be a boarding pass for this "White Ship." For reasons unknown to Jeff, he decided to stash the card in his pocket and he then continued to examine the room. He began to suspect that he was inside some sort of military base or research station. If that was the case, then he hoped to be able to escape as quickly as possible. He did not want to have to explain to whoever found him what a kid like him was doing inside what was likely to be a secret base.

Jeff scanned the room and he quickly found a door. He went over and saw that there was a small window on the door that let him look into the hallway. He approached the door, pressed his face against the glass, and scanned the hallway. He could not find anyone in his field of vision. Figuring that the coast was clear, he then opened the door and exited the room.

The hallway was also gray and had no lighting to speak of. Jeff looked down both ends of the hall and realized that none of the rooms seemed to have been lit at all. Whatever building he was in, whether it had been a base or some sort of research facility, was likely abandoned. He did not know whether this was good or bad. He then weighed his options and tried to pick a direction to travel. After doing a mental coin toss, he decided that he would go left. He turned and began to travel down the hall until he came to the door that led to a stairwell. He opened the door, which creaked as he pushed. Making sure to make as little noise as possible, just in case the building was not as abandoned as he thought, he closed the door once he was through and in the stairwell.

He then proceeded down the many flights of stairs. On his way, though, he was met by a small, cute mouse-like robot. Jeff quickly learned that this robot was actually an enemy as twin gun barrels began to emerge from the mouse-like robot's eyes. However, Jeff was quicker on the draw than the robot and he shot the robot with a pulse of energy from his laser pistol before the robot could fire. The scarlet bolt of energy burned through the center of the robot at the speed of light. The robot fell to the ground with a hole burned into the center of the machine. The robot then erupted into a shower of sparks, spraying metal fragments all over the place. Once the robot had stopped throwing showers of sparks and small pieces of shrapnel into the air, Jeff continued on his way down the stairs.

When he reached the ground level, he exited the stairwell and found himself in another dark corridor. He proceeded to move down the corridor, searching for the exit to the outside world. He did not get far before he heard a voice come from down the hall. They must not have suspected anyone else of being here, for they were far from quiet in their speaking, and Jeff could understand what they were saying loud and clear.

"I don't know why we're even here, this place has been abandoned for over a year. What is here that is so valuable anyway?" he heard one voice ask in a tone that was both curious and also slightly annoyed.

"They have a telescope that is not under surveillance by the Eastern Coalition, Middle Eastern Alliance, or by anyone else for that matter," a second voice responded in a tone that indicated that he agreed with the first voice. "We don't know what idiot wants this stupid war to continue, but they've got friends in high places and there is a rumor that something is up in space over Earth. General Scamp wants us to find out if there is anything out there."

This did not sound good to Jeff. The last he remembered, America was not embroiled in a war against something called the Eastern Coalition or Middle Eastern Alliance. He then heard the first voice speak again, "Then why don't they just point a few telescopes into orbit or check the radar?"

"Because Scamp does not want this to be made known to any infiltrators. The White Ship is already sending out invites to chosen people," a third voice chimed in calmly. The voice sounded like its bearer was in his early to mid twenties. Jeff also recognized the accent as Middle Eastern. "Could you imagine the panic that it would bring if the existence and plan of something like the White Ship got out?" There was a pause before the voice continued, "I really hope that we don't have to rely on the White Ship for the survival of our species, but if things don't get better fast, we won't not have much of a choice."

"Peace negotiations are proceeding between the various factions, though," the second voice commented. "Not only that, but they've gotten farther this time than they did in the previous two attempts."

"Yeah, more than one and a half billion _dead_, with nearly as many wounded or sterile will do that," the first voice said in response. "I just hope that it finally ends," he said sincerely. "I mean, does anyone even know why we're fighting each other anymore? All of the leaders that started this blasted war are dead!"

His comments did not seem to fall on deaf ears, for both of his companions said, "Yeah, we know."

Jeff did not like the sound of this. Apparently there had been a third world war, and its death toll, more than one and a half billion so far, had eclipsed the death toll of any war previous to this one. Jeff suspected that the main way for a war to claim that many lives was for nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons to have been used on a large scale. And given the comments of the number of wounded and _sterile_, he suspected that at the very least nuclear, and likely biological and chemical, weapons had been used. Jeff began to be very nervous now. These three people may have been tired of fighting, but this place was apparently quite important. He hoped to not have to see whether they take the approach of "better safe than sorry" with him.

He took a step back and heard the clattering of a metal can hitting the floor. Jeff froze. Had he been able to see the three men coming down the corridor, he would have known that they also heard the sound and were approaching, and that they were armed with assault rifles with grenade launchers underneath their barrels. Jeff was about to move back to the stairwell when a light shined around him and nearly blinded him.

"Drop your weapon! Hands in the air, now!" a voice roared behind him. Jeff recognized it as being the first voice that he had heard.

Jeff reflexively dropped his laser pistol, which clattered as it hit the ground, and raised his hands to show the soldier behind him that he had no other weapons in his hands.

"Turn around, slowly," the soldier ordered, training his rifle on Jeff's head.

Jeff obeyed the soldier and he turned around slowly. Soon, he was face to face with the soldier. He found that the soldier looked to be in his early twenties. He was dressed in a standard military battle dress uniform and had short, brown hair.

"Kick that thing over here," the soldier commanded.

Jeff complied with the order. He kicked the pistol over to the soldier, who called for backup. "Major Labs, Captain Karim, I've found someone."

It was not long before the two other soldiers came. The soldier that Jeff suspected to be Major Labs was a tall man with dark hair and eyes. Jeff suspected that Major Labs was in his late thirties to early forties. Jeff looked at Captain Karim and would have suspected the two of them being in different armies had he not seen the two together with the third soldier, for Karim was a Middle-Eastern man with short, dark hair. His uniform was also different from the other two soldiers. The flag on his shoulder was one that Jeff did not recognize, while Jeff clearly recognized the American flag on the shoulders of Major Labs and the first soldier. Karim also looked to be young, no older than the soldier who had found him, who looked to be in his early to mid twenties at the oldest. It was Labs that spoke first, "Who is this, Lieutenant?"

"I haven't gotten his name, yet," the lieutenant responded, "but he was armed." He picked up the laser pistol and handed it over to the major.

Major Labs studied the pistol. "And with either a toy, or a pretty advanced weapon," Major Labs commented. He quickly gripped the pistol and targeted a damaged wall and pulled the trigger. A pulse of red energy leapt from the pistol and struck the wall, gouging a small hole into the wall. "Looks like a pretty advanced weapon," Major Labs said almost absently. He turned to Jeff. "Where did you get this? Who gave it to you?" Major Labs was now pointing the weapon at Jeff.

Jeff mulled over his options quickly. He did not think that Major Labs would believe the truth, but he did not want to lie to Labs, for if he did, Labs would have even more reason to suspect him of something. Jeff eventually responded, "I doubt that you would believe me if I told you the truth."

"I don't know about that," Labs replied. "But what I do know is that we were ordered here to find some secret papers and take a look through the telescope in this research station that was supposed to have been abandoned years ago. However, here we find you, a young teenager with a laser pistol, something that seems even more advanced than the weapons we currently have in use. Now, I would have liked to believe that you were a poor boy looking for some shelter, but your nice clothes and this advanced weapon seem to indicate otherwise. Now, I will ask you again, who are you, and who gave this pistol to you?"

Jeff then decided to give his answer. "My name is Jeff Andonuts." That seemed to get the attention of the young lieutenant. It seemed as if Karim noticed the lieutenant's reaction.

"You know that name Flint?" Karim asked. Jeff noted the name of the soldier that had found him.

"I've heard it in passing," Flint responded. "At the turn of this century, something funny happened in a small rural town called Onett. There were a rash of disappearances at a birthday, slash, end of the school year party at a house in the hills of Onett. Three of the people were Doctor Alfred Andonuts, a famous inventor, Lucy Andonuts, his wife and Jeffery Andonuts, their son. The police searched for months, but could find no trace of them. What was the most bizarre thing out of all of this, though, was the fact that three other children disappeared, as did their parents. Some witnesses said that they were abducted by aliens. Even the police chief of Onett at the time believed that, but federal authorities laughed at that notion, at least officially. Also, Doctor Andonuts had been known for some pretty crazy, and advanced, inventions of his own."

Captain Karim then chimed in. "Sir, if this boy is Dr. Andonuts's son, then there should be some record of him somewhere. You could go and check out the records to see if this boy is telling the truth."

"There's a simpler way to go about finding the truth," Major Labs suggested not too subtly towards Captain Karim.

Captain Karim almost recoiled. "But, sir, I'm not comfortable using my abilities on a child."

"We need to know if he's telling the truth, Captain. I can't order you to do this since you're not under my direct command, but we need to know if that kid is telling the truth. You don't have to do a deep scan unless he holds something back."

So it seemed as if Captain Karim was a telepath. Jeff then blurted out, "Wait!" That got the attention of the other soldiers and they quickly trained their weapons on Jeff. Jeff immediately raised his hands again. "I have a Counter Telepathy helmet on my head," Jeff told them. "It will block anyone's telepathic abilities within a certain range and it protects me from a scan. I'm going to remove it and submit myself to a surface scan." Jeff then took a breath. "After all, you're the ones with the guns." That got a smile from the soldiers.

With that, he slowly placed his hands on the sides of the helmet. The soldiers did not move a muscle. He then slowly lifted the helmet off and he deactivated it. With that, Major Labs went to Karim and said, "It's your show now."

Karim then stared intently at Jeff and his eyes started to glow softly. After a few seconds, his eyes returned to normal and he turned back to Major Labs and said, "He's telling the truth. He _is_ Jeff Andonuts. And he did invent that laser pistol."

Major Labs then lowered his weapon, as did Lieutenant Flint and Captain Karim. "This also means that this kid also does not know a thing about what has been going on in the last ten years," Major Labs commented.

"All I know is that there seems to have been some world war, likely the third one, I hope, going on," Jeff told Major Labs, "and that it has killed over one and a half billion people. From your comments, I guess that it has lasted ten years."

"Yes," Captain Karim answered for the major. "Now, though, there is an attempt to create a peace treaty that will end the war. However, there were two previous attempts to make peace, but they failed, miserably. This may be the human race's only chance. The world had started throwing around nuclear weapons again before peace talks began once more. Let's just hope that the new leaders are wiser and actually get this peace to work. Maybe it will even last," he added quietly. Jeff could easily see that Karim was sick of this war.

"Let us hope and pray," Major Labs and Lieutenant Flint added, showing their feelings on the subject. Major Labs then turned to Jeff and asked, "So, Jeff Andonuts, how did you wind up in this abandoned research center?"

Jeff then explained everything that had happened as they walked up the stairs towards the telescope. His story would have sounded outlandish to others, but these three men seemed to take him seriously. The fact that Flint had heard of his name may have had something to do with it, though the fact that they were weary of war and searching could have also meant that they were merely listening in order to pass the time. After he had finished explaining his current situation, he listened as they described what had happened over the last ten years. Much as Jeff had suspected, nuclear war had broken out between the nuclear powers of the world.

A nuclear bomb went off in the U.S., destroying a small city and damaging several surrounding towns. The U.S. identified the offending organization and its support nations, and proceeded to respond by bombing the offending country into a parking lot without nuclear weapons at that time. This action terrified the world. Some were merely scared, others outraged, and yet others merely said, "it's about time". The battle lines were quickly drawn and the war began. Some terrorist nations and organizations had managed to acquire nuclear weapons and launched nuclear attacks on the U.S. and its allies, and the U.S. and its allies quickly responded in kind. After that, the war became more conventional, but still lasted for a good deal of time, claiming more than a billion lives in the process. There had been two attempts at peace to end the war, but so far, both had failed. The leaders of the talks on both sides had been assassinated, often times by the other side's soldiers. Karim had mused that it almost seemed as if someone really did not want this war to end and was doing everything in his power to keep it going. There was one more talk scheduled to begin shortly. Jeff had learned that Karim had, indeed, once fought for the Middle Eastern Alliance, an enemy of the U.S. during the war, but had grown weary of the fighting. He had met Flint on the battlefield, but they simply stood there, looking at the carnage, and they asked each other what they were fighting for. Neither of them could answer and so, they stopped fighting. Now, the goal of Flint and Karim was to bring _all_ of the parties to the peace table so that this horrible war could end before it was too late, and all of humanity was put in jeopardy.

The four soon made their way past the remains of the robotic mouse. Major Labs looked down at the mouse, and then back at Jeff. "Your handiwork?"

Jeff nodded. Labs smiled. He was beginning to like Jeff. He took the lead, with Captain Karim following him. Bringing up the rear were Flint and Jeff. Soon, the four were at the top of the building. Major Labs pushed open the door leading to the observatory. The inside of the observatory was gray. Computers and monitors framed the walls. They saw a large telescope at the other end of the room, and several computers. Jeff went over to a light switch and turned on the lights while Karim went over to one of the consoles and turned on the system controlling the telescope. "Alright, it's on!" he called out to the others.

Major Labs turned to Flint and said, "Lieutenant, guard the entrance. We don't want any unwelcome guests coming to compromise this mission."

"Aye, sir."

With that, Flint headed back to the exit.

Jeff quickly headed over to the console closest to the telescope and called out to Major Labs, "What sector did you want us to examine, again?"

"Coordinates five by twenty by forty-four," came Labs's response.

"Got it."

After typing the coordinates into the computer, the telescope shifted position. Jeff could hear the faint hum of gears turning as the telescope shifted its position to the desired coordinates. After the telescope had shifted its position, Jeff called out, "Telescope is now at coordinates five by twenty by forty-four."

Major Labs then approached the telescope. Upon reaching the telescope he looked into it. If Jeff and the others had been able to see his face, he would have seen the major's eyes go wide. He quickly recoiled from the telescope, his face ashen.

"What was it?" Karim asked.

Labs waited a moment before responding, "They're here," in an ominous tone.

"Who's here?" Jeff asked, noticing the tone of voice.

"The aliens," Labs replied.

"Aliens?" Karim asked. "What did you see up there?"

"There were a dozen flying saucers up in orbit. They looked to be noticeable in size."

Jeff then went over to the telescope and looked into it. Inside, he was able to confirm Labs's findings. In fact, there were fourteen UFOs in orbit. Jeff recognized the designs all too well, for they were of the same design as the UFOs he saw over Onett. However, judging from what he saw, they were not any larger than the ones that he had encountered earlier. He could even see one of the pilots of the UFOs, a Starman Super. He retreated from the telescope and said, "We have a new reason for making certain that the peace process goes off without a hitch." He gave a pause before continuing. "The UFOs that you saw in the telescope Major are of the same design that I saw over Onett the day I disappeared. They also appeared over Onett three years ago, my time. They launched an invasion of Earth that was only barely averted. So far, there are only fourteen of them, but that could change in the future."

"So are we looking at a full-scale invasion?" Labs asked.

"Highly likely," Jeff responded.

It was then that Karim asked a question. "Jeff, Major, were these flying saucers gray in color and look just like old science fiction UFOs with a something resembling a bulb on top of them?"

They both nodded.

"Then I may have heard of these things before."

Major Labs went over to Karim and asked, "Where have you heard of these things from?"

"From my grandfather," Karim responded. "My grandfather was from a distant kingdom called Dalaam."

"Dalaam?" Jeff blurted out in shock.

"Yes," Karim replied, turning towards Jeff with a inquisitive look on his face. "You've heard of it?"

"Yeah. One of my best friends, Poo, is, or was, the Prince of Dalaam."

"_The_ Prince Poo?" Karim asked.

"Yes, you know him?"

"I know of him," Karim responded. "He was the last prince of Dalaam. He helped organize the evacuation of Dalaam before it was destroyed."

"Dalaam was destroyed?" Jeff asked, his heart beginning to sink.

"Yes, it was," Karim told him feeling compassion for the teen. "But thanks to Prince Poo, everyone was able to escape from the kingdom before it was destroyed."

"What happened to Poo?" Jeff asked, worried about his friend.

"No one knows," Karim answered. "He was last seen evacuating his Master and Star Master from the battlefield. Some say that he did appear for a short time while the evacuees started a new settlement in the Scaraba Desert, but that he disappeared shortly after that, and was never heard from again."

Jeff did not know whether to be relieved, worried, or sad at the loss of a friend.

"As for who the attackers were," Karim continued, "the UFOs that you and Labs described fit the exact description my grandfather gave me of the UFOs that attacked Dalaam at the turn of the century. If indeed these are the same aliens, then we are in very big trouble. My grandfather told me that their leader was a powerful psychic, and they had powerful psychic soldiers as well. They also had giant robotic soldiers as well." That was something Jeff did not remember from his previous encounters with the Starmen.

Major Labs then went over to one of the consoles and ejected a disk. He placed the disk into a case and said, "Okay, we've got all that we came for. Let's go. We have to get this information back to Scamp and the Senate at once. It's especially important since, as Jeff and you, Karim, have pointed out, these guys have been here before, and appear to be quite powerful."

"My people will also be interested in this," Karim noted. "This information should hopefully go a long way in helping along the peace process."

"Let's hope so, Captain," Major Labs said. "Okay guys, let's move out!" Turning to Jeff, he said, "I hope that you'll come along too. We could use anything you know about these aliens."

Jeff replied, "I'd be glad to help in whatever way I can."

Major Labs smiled. They headed towards the exit to the observatory, and out of the building. They had to get to Scamp as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, looking on from on top of a building across from the research center and observatory, a man watched the three soldiers and the teenage boy leave the observatory and head over to a jet. The appearance of a fourth member surprised him. What surprised him even more was the fact that the fourth person looked to be quite young, no older than an early teenager. He continued to watch as the four boarded the jet. He made certain to focus on Jeff. He aimed the lens of his watch at the teenage boy and snapped a photo of him. The man waited as the ramp retracted and the jet began to accelerate along the ground. Soon, the jet lifted off into the air and departed the abandoned base. The man knew where they were headed. They were headed to make their report to General Scamp in Threed. He waited until he was certain that the jet was away and that there was no one else present before he decided to make a report of his own. He pressed a button on his wrist and, putting his wrist communicator close to his mouth, spoke into it, "This is Echo Three Zero Delta, reporting in. I have located the three men that Scamp sent to the observatory. They have just left the observatory with a fourth person, some teenage boy. I managed to get an image of the boy. I'm sending it now. I think that he may be pretty important to them."

The man pushed a button and a picture of Jeff Andonuts appeared on his watch. Soon, after pressing a second button, the picture pixilated, broke apart, and then disappeared from the screen.

After a few seconds, a mechanical voice sounded over the watch, "Image received. Well done, Echo Three Zero Delta. Get out of there and report back to base. Our masters will be pleased."

"Roger that." With that, Echo Three Zero Delta stood up and left the building that he had been using for his stakeout. He grinned. Things had changed. His employer's masters may well be accelerating their schedule. If that happened, it would not be long before he would be off this soon to be dead world, and serving someone who knew what he wanted, and would give him everything his heart desired.


	6. Jeff Chapter 2

Jeff – Chapter 2

Later that day, at nearly five o'clock P.M., Jeff and the others landed at a military base near Threed. They quickly disembarked from the plane and headed over to a large building not too far from the landing strip. Jeff looked around at the landing field, gazing at the fighters that were currently landed and/or undergoing repairs. Most of the fighter jets were of unknown designs. While some of the fighters were reminiscent of F-22 Raptors, there were also some noticeable differences. Some fighters had forward sweeping wings. Others looked like a concept plane, known as Switchblades, that Jeff had read about a few years ago. There were also A-10 Thunderbolt IIs parked there as well, though Jeff had always referred to them by their nickname, the Warthog. There were other jets there that had a forward swept wing design. From their looks, Jeff believed that the planes likely used stealth technology. Jeff did not glance around the airfield for long, for he was quickly ushered into the building.

Inside the building, Jeff saw several military personnel standing guard outside an office. Jeff could not see inside the office, but he suspected that that was where General Scamp, or whoever was in charge of this base, was located. Outside the office, two guards came up to the three soldiers and Jeff and stood between them and the office. Looking at Jeff, one of the guards, a muscular black man asked in a gruff voice, "Who is this boy, Major?"

"His name is Jeffery Andonuts," Major Labs replied. "He has information vital to our national security, and possibly to the security of the world. We called in order to let him know we were coming."

The guards did not move. Jeff did not know whether this was good or bad. "We'll need your authorization codes," the second guard, a tall Caucasian told them.

The three soldiers then pulled three cards from their pockets and handed them to the guards. Upon looking carefully at the cards, the guards returned the cards to their holders and said, "Okay, you guys may pass." With that, the four of them were allowed into the office.

Inside the office, Jeff found an older man who looked to be in his mid-fifties wearing a blue military uniform standing next to a map at the other end of the room. On the map were several, green, red, and blue dots. Jeff guessed that these were the locations of friendly, non-aligned, and enemy bases and strongholds. The man was flanked by two other soldiers. In front of the four who had entered the room was a desk that was ready to seat over a dozen personnel. The older man soon turned and faced the four visitors. Jeff could see the two stars on the shoulders of the man. This had to be General Scamp. Major Labs, Captain Karim, and Lieutenant Flint all saluted. General Scamp saluted them back and they lowered their hands. Looking at the younger visitor, he said, "This must be the boy you were talking about."

"Yes, sir," Major Labs replied.

"Come, sit everyone," the general told them, indicating that the five of them should take a seat. When they were seated, the general turned to Jeff. "Okay, son. I've had some time to look over the images that Major Labs gave me, and I know that they are real. In fact, to tell the truth, others have seen them as well. Not only that, but there have been reports by other governments about similar craft being sighted in orbit or even landing in certain areas on the planet. Now, what do you know about these aliens?"

"Actually, very little," Jeff responded. The general refrained from comment, but this admission seemed to surprise Major Labs. "What I do know is that the creatures you see in that image are referred to as Starmen. There are various types of Starmen as well. They are psychic aliens and they tried to invade the Earth in the 1990s. This invasion was beaten back. Along with the Starmen, other aliens also attacked as part of the army, along with brainwashed humans. Some of the other aliens also had psychic powers. The Starmen also invaded Onett in the 2000s, which is where I am from. In the 1990s, their leader was an alien named Giygas. By the time we had encountered him, he had become a gaseous being that was said to have destroyed the universe in the future, a future that we averted once he was defeated. We never knew what race he belonged to, though I doubt that it was the same race as the Starmen. Also, despite the severity of the invasion, none of the military forces seemed to know that there was an alien invasion occurring. However, that could have been due to the psychic nature of the aliens. It seems that in the 2000s, his people returned. However, I only remember Onett being invaded. The fact that you are here indicates that they were beaten back a second time."

"Or that they were simply scouting out the planet the first time and are reporting back right now," Captain Karim interrupted. Turning to Scamp, he said, "Sir, you know that I am telepathic. You also probably know that I am not unique in my abilities. While human psychics are exceedingly rare, there are other psychics in the world, real psychics not the fakes you hear advertising séances and future readings on television and the internet, though some have used advertising as psychics and tarot card readers to actually conceal their true nature. We tend to hide our true nature, for obvious reasons. That said; I have been having strange feelings the last few weeks. I am also certain that others like me have also had these strange feelings as well. We feel as if we are being marked. I don't know for what, but it obviously is not good."

The general nodded and then turned to Jeff, indicating that he should continue. Turning to Karim, Jeff said, "It would not surprise me if you _were_ being marked. During the first invasion, I and three others, all of them psychics, were the ones that defeated Giygas. And it was the other psychics that did most of the work. Also there may be more than just Starmen that you'll have to contend with. There was an alien that emerged from the craft in the second invasion of Onett. It looked like a humanoid with cat-like characteristics, particularly in its face and tail. It was also a powerful psychic, likely stronger than any of the Starmen we faced in the previous invasion, though some green energy wave washed over me and everyone else at the party before we could fight the alien.

"Not only that, but during the first invasion, Giygas had other psychic aliens working with him known as Mooks. They were classed into two categories, Lesser Mooks and Mook Seniors. Mooks also have the ability to 'diamondize' opponents with their glare. Think of the effects of looking at Medusa from Greek mythology, only instead of turning into stone, you turn into diamond, and the Mook only has to glare at you. You don't have to look directly on it for the diamondization to take effect. Starmen, the alien that I saw piloting the strange craft, are also organized by category. In terms of strength, there are Starmen, Starman Supers, Ghosts of Starmen, Starman Deluxes, and Final Starmen. As can be surmised, Starmen merely appear to be aliens wearing space suits with visors. The normal Starmen wear a gray suit with no frills. The Starman Supers wear a yellowish-gold suit with no extra frills either. The Ghosts of Starmen look like specters and wear black suits with a purplish hue surrounding them. Starman Deluxes have silvery suits that have spikes protruding from their helmets and shoulders. Final Starmen look just like Starman Deluxes, only they have golden suits rather than the Deluxes' silver. Starman Supers, Starman Deluxes, and Final Starmen also have psychic shields that are capable of reflecting psychic damage raised as a basic trait of their people. Not only that, but Final Starmen also can raise a normal shield that can reflect non-psychic attacks back at the user. However, both shields cannot be up over the same person at the same time. Mooks do not have any natural defenses that I know of.

"The known attacks that I have seen Starmen Deluxes, Ghosts of Starmen, and Final Starmen use are called PSI Starstorm Alpha and PSI Starstorm Omega. The Omega variant is merely a stronger version of the Alpha level of the attack. This attack consists of raining down and/or generating and projecting a barrage of blue orbs that look much like stars onto a series of targets. Each star is capable of at least inflicting a great deal of damage to a building like this. Theoretically, the unrestrained use of Starstorm Omega on a city could, and likely would, cause significant damage to the city, possibly even destroying it depending on the size of the city. And I am likely understating the true capacity of Starstorm. As for Starmen and Starmen Supers, they only have support PSI. One thing I previously forgot to mention is that Starman Supers and Final Starmen also have PSI Healing Omega, a psychic ability that allows them to revive unconscious or dead allies.

"One more thing that should be noted is that before the invasion began in earnest, strange things happened in the area. Animals acted strange, attacking anyone they met at the first opportunity, household objects would come to life and attack people, appliances would go haywire as well, all sorts of weird stuff would happen. It would seem as if everything was going insane."

Jeff then paused to let the general reflect on the information that Jeff had given him. "Any idea as to why the rest of the world did not notice the strange activities?" General Scamp asked. "There was no mention of any military intervention, and I am cleared above Top Secret, yet I have read nothing about this."

"I don't know," Jeff shrugged. "Maybe the incidents in Onett and all around the state were too isolated for the government to take notice. After all, the aliens weren't exactly attacking openly. They didn't have to. If we didn't stop Giygas, himself, the world would have been destroyed, possibly the entire universe."

"I see," the general said. "How exactly did you manage to defeat Giygas and his invasion?"

"We prayed for assistance, literally," Jeff replied. "None of our attacks were hurting Giygas, otherwise."

This was not what Scamp was interested in hearing. "I see," he said, almost impatiently. "What I am really wondering, though, is how you managed to defeat his minions. Giygas is dead, his minions aren't. It's them that we'll have to face."

"Three of my friends were psychic," Jeff replied. "But there were some weapons and devices that I was working on in order for me to not be completely overwhelmed by a Starman should I be forced to fight one on my own."

"And what weapons and devices are these?"

"One is the Counter PSI Unit," Jeff told the general. "It could block an enemy's psychic abilities. The Counter Telepathy helmet I was wearing was step one in the development of a helmet variant that I could wear, leaving me free to use my hands for other weapons. Another thing that my father was working on was the PSI Disruptor, however, that weapon was for use against psychic aliens without physical bodies, or bodies that merely contain a vast psychic reserve. Other devices include the Shield Killer, which lowers psychic and normal shielding, which can be raised using psychic powers, and the Neutralizer, which does the same thing, as well as neutralize any psychic enhancements made by either friend or foe."

"Where are these weapons and devices right now?" Scamp asked excitedly, leaning towards Jeff. It was the first time Scamp seemed to show this much emotion. Jeff could tell that the general wanted to get his hands on these weapons and build copies for his troops.

"Back at my father's lab, in Winters, not too far from the Snow Wood Boarding School, assuming that Snow Wood is still there," Jeff added, realizing that the school may have been destroyed during the war.

"It is," Major Labs replied. He then turned to General Scamp and said, "We have to get to that lab. The technology inside could be just what we need to prepare for this alien invasion."

General Scamp thought about his options for a moment and then said, "Okay, let's do it." Turning to Flint, he said, "Lieutenant Sanders, you're going to accompany Mister Andonuts here to his father's lab. You'll leave first thing, tomorrow, should he be okay with helping us find the weapons," Scamp added, gazing down at Jeff questioningly. Jeff nodded vigorously in affirmation. "Okay, good," Scamp confirmed. He then turned to Major Labs and Captain Karim. "As for you two, Labs, I'll need you present when I make this presentation to the Senate's war committee. Karim, you should go back to Jordan and take this information to the leaders of the Middle Eastern Alliance. Even though they are just as eager for peace, they should know about this. Heck, the whole world needs to know about this. Even if it's a false alarm, it's better to be safe than sorry, especially in our current weakened condition."

"Yes, General," Karim replied.

"Okay men, let's snap to it," Scamp called out. With that, the meeting was adjourned. Captain Karim proceeded to exit and make preparations to go back to Jordan, while Major Labs remained in order to examine the situation around the world. Taking Jeff aside, General Scamp told him, "Mr. Andonuts, since you won't be leaving with Flint until tomorrow, you'll need a place to stay. There is an unoccupied bunk on the second floor of the barracks just across the airfield. Report at the main hangar at Oh-Six Hundred tomorrow with Lieutenant Flint Sanders. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Jeff replied. He was not sure how to feel about this current arrangement. Still, he was in what amounted to an alien world that was engulfed in war, and likely about to face a second one soon. If there was anything he could do to help, he would do it.

"Okay, son." General Scamp began. Jeff was just about to leave when a soldier came bursting through the door.

"General, sir, you've gotta see this!" the soldier cried out, almost hyperventilating in the process.

"What is it, soldier?" Scamp asked.

"Sir, something is happening near the White Ship." That got Jeff's attention, though he tried to look as casual and unimportant as possible. The soldier then handed Scamp a round disk. "It's all on there, sir."

"Thank you, Sergeant," the General said, pausing to identify the man's rank. General Scamp then went over to a television and opened a built-in DVD player. He placed the DVD on the tray and inserted the disk. Soon, the video began to play on the screen.

At first, the view was of a tremendous, large white ship that looked like a gigantic starship. There ship was reminiscent of various types of airships that he had seen in Japanese Role Playing Games for various videogame consoles. Jeff suspected that the ship may have been an experimental space ship of some sort, but he had no way to know for certain. From the looks of things, though, Jeff suspected that it was almost a mile long and could hold over ten thousand people with ease. He did not see any weapons on the ship, though, which made Jeff wonder what the ship was for, exactly. Workers were crawling all over the ship making sure that everything was in place and up to specifications. He suspected that there were many more workers, technicians, and engineers inside the ship working on it as well. It looked like the ship was almost complete.

Not long into the program, Jeff saw a shadow begin to cover the work site and soon, part of the ship. It was then that the camera looked up and there they saw it. It was a flying saucer, the same type that Jeff had seen inside the telescope at the research center and observatory and over Onett. The only difference was that this saucer was much larger than the ones that he had seen earlier. This saucer seemed to have a diameter of nearly one hundred meters, from what Jeff could tell. The human ship under construction still seemed to dwarf it in size. However, that was not the end of the recording. The camera began to shift its view, as if to see if there was anything around the large UFO. Sure enough, it was being escorted by two smaller UFOs. These UFOs were the size that Jeff had encountered at Ness's house during the party. He had expected the UFOs to open fire on the ship and obliterate it, but instead of taking any hostile actions, they just floated over the ship and the yards around it. The camera followed the UFOs until they were out of sight, all the while, the crafts did not increase or decrease their speed.

When the recording was over, General Scamp turned to Jeff and Karim and asked, "Thoughts?"

Both Jeff and Captain Karim simply sat at the table, looking at the screen for a few moments. This was not what either of them had expected to see. "I really don't know what to think," Jeff said eventually. "Are you sure that they didn't land any troops?"

"Positive," Scamp replied. "I was alerted to this earlier today. The workers at the shipyard did not see anyone emerge from the unknown craft, nor did they see anyone strange hanging around it either."

"This does not make sense," Karim mused. "All accounts of these craft indicate that their pilots are invaders and shoot first, never ask questions later. I have anecdotal evidence of such, and Jeff knows it because he has fought them before. Yet here, all they do is fly over the White Ship. Why? They don't even accelerate away from the ship once they've flown over it. They seem to be going about whatever they are doing very cautiously. I wonder why?"

"That's what Flint and Jeff are going to find out," Scamp proclaimed. "Given the fact that they have been beaten before, they may be scouting the area and trying not to arouse any suspicion. I, however, am worried that they may be planning something other than making peaceful contact. Flint and Jeff will take a plane to the construction yard first thing tomorrow and patrol the area. Report back anything you find. The trip to Dr. Andonuts's lab in Winters will have to wait."

Flint saluted, and noticing an opportunity to be of some use in stopping a potential alien invasion, Jeff did likewise. Major Labs then went up to General Scamp and whispered in Scamp's ear inaudibly to Jeff, "Are you sure that you want Flint to go with Jeff. Wouldn't Karim be a better choice, him being psychic and all?"

"It would be," Scamp whispered in reply. "But Karim needs to give the information that we have gathered to the Middle Eastern Alliance. I am also sending envoys to the Eastern Coalition with this all of the information that we have gathered on these craft. Besides, there are rumors that certain individuals on all sides want the fighting to keep going and that there's an assassination attempt being planned to take place either during the talks, or shortly before them. The peace process won't begin in earnest for a week, but if I were an assassin, I wouldn't wait that long before making my move, especially since the site of the treaty will be heavily guarded. You and Karim are needed in order to fight the enemy on the inside, which is more important right now than what we may face later on, now more than ever. For the time being let Flint and Jeff find out some things about these extraterrestrials. There's still the small possibility that they aren't going planning anything. If Jeff and Karim had not known about them, I wouldn't even consider sending Mister Andonuts and Lieutenant Sanders to investigate what happened over the White Ship."

"I understand, sir."

General Scamp then turned to the others that were seated at the table and said, "Okay men, you have your orders." Turning to Jeff and Flint, he told them, "I have a change of plans regarding you two. Mister. Andonuts, Lieutanant Sanders, you two are going to go to the White Ship before you make for Doctor Andonuts's lab in Winters and make sure that nothing strange is going on. That White Ship is quite important, as you know, Flint. Should you see any UFOs or aliens I don't want you engaging them yet, just observe them. If anything strange is going on, or if you encounter these aliens again, report back immediately. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir," Flint responded.

"Alright then, until tomorrow."

The soldiers then rose and saluted the general. Scamp saluted back and they then filed out of his office. As the soldiers left, Scamp wondered if they knew that he was actually quite worried about these aliens since even if the peace process did work out, which was by no means certain at this moment, that there was no guarantee that they would be able to beat back any alien invaders at this point in time.

Before going the barracks on the other side of the base, Jeff decided to stop by the mess hall to get some dinner. He also wanted to be able to sit and think without any distractions. Upon entering the mess hall, he noticed that it was very sparsely populated, which surprised him. There were only a few soldiers in the hall, and they were all huddled together in one corner. Not only that, but there were several other people eating there as well that appeared to be civilians. Jeff went over to the buffet line and got a small personal pepperoni pizza and some soda. He also got a few wrapped chocolate chip cookies to take back to the barracks for a snack later on. Upon paying for the food, he made his way to an empty table. There, he sat down and ate his meal. While he ate, he began to reflect on the day's events. He had not expected things to turn out the way they did in the slightest. Upon thinking about this, he really did not know what to make of the recent turn of events. It all seemed like a dream to him. He also wondered if this was merely a Magicant, or if there was something else going on. He quickly shook off the notion that this was a Magicant of some kind, though he did not discount the possibility that he could have already been abducted by aliens. After all, even his Counter Telepathy Helmet was only effective against human telepaths, so far. There was the very real possibility that an alien could still read his mind like a book; or tear it open or explode a psychic bomb inside of it, Jeff thought morbidly. Still, Jeff knew that there was little choice but to go along with things and see how they turned out. One thing he knew was that it would be very bad if the Starmen decided to invade Earth again, given what Jeff had heard so far from Major Labs, Captain Karim, and Flint. There was no way the militaries of the world would withstand an onslaught from the Starmen. After he was finished his meal, he put the used paper plate and cups in the trashcan and placed the tray on top of a small stack of trays on top of the trashcan. He put the cookies that he had bought in his pocket. He then left the mess hall and proceeded towards the barracks.

On the way to the barracks, Jeff stopped by a shop and bought some more food and other items. He bought a tub of tuna salad, some bread, a pack of soda bottles, and a toothbrush and toothpaste. When he was finished, he left the shop and went over to the barracks. He searched for his quarters, and found them relatively quickly. Upon entering his quarters, he saw that they were relatively small, but not that much smaller than what he was used to from Snow Wood Boarding School. There was a bunk bed near the wall, along with a table in the center of the room not too far away from the bed or exit. He found a work desk over in a corner with a computer. He hoped that the computer had internet access. If it did, he would be able to catch up on some of the history of this time, as well as see what the current level of technology of the world was. There was also a television not too far away from the table, along with a single chair in front of it. The screen was flat, looking much like those new High-definition televisions. Jeff then glanced around the room and saw little else to indicate that there were other occupants. From the look of things, Jeff guessed that he was not sharing these quarters with anybody. However, the poster of a woman in a red string bikini made Jeff wonder if he _was_ going to have a bunkmate. He hoped that he would be alone. It would give him time to be alone with his thoughts, and that would be essential since he had a bad feeling that he would soon be facing off against the Starmen once again.

In the meantime, though, Jeff was content to turn on the television and watch the news, wondering if there had been any other UFO sightings. He turned it to Wolf News Channel and found that the appearance of the UFOs over the White Ship was not secret anymore. He then fished into his pocket and pulled out his pass to board the White Ship. He did not know how close to completion the White Ship was, or if it was complete, but he thought it strange that people would be given a pass to board the White Ship before it had even been completed. Whoever had been working in that research station must have been important. Either that, or someone had stolen another person's boarding pass and dropped it in that room searching for something else. Jeff then sighed and placed the pass back in his pocket. He turned off the television and went over to a work desk with a computer.

His next order of business was to go onto the internet. He wanted to find out more about this White Ship that seemed so important. He logged onto the computer and typed in various searches for the White Ship. The first few searches were dead ends, but soon, he found a promising lead. In the article that he found, which was a few years out of date, according to the images that he found, he saw that The White Ship was an experimental ship that was said to use dimensional warping technology to slide into other dimensions and reappear somewhere else entirely. It was, ironically, based on a psychic move called "4th-D Slip". Jeff was unfamiliar with the move, though, so he looked it up. Just as he thought, there was no information on it on the internet. He believed it was a form of teleportation, though. He also began to remember some of his father's experiments with dimensional warping technology. He had always viewed research of theoretical dimensional warping as confined to the realm of science fiction. However, his father had still been researching it, using the Phase Distorter as the basis for various experiments, only instead of sending someone back in time, it was now sending someone into another dimension. At least, that was the theory. For all Jeff knew, though, the 4th-D Slip Drive had been scrapped. The article that he was reading had been written four years ago.

Its purpose was designed to be an evacuation vessel should worst come to worst and the survivors of a calamity be forced to evacuate the Earth, or warp away until the threat passed over. According to the article the ship's construction had begun before World War Three started, but construction was halted when the war started. However, five years ago, construction on the ship began again. It was now being funded by various private corporations and several very rich and influential individuals. Jeff figured that that was the source of the boarding pass. Many of those working on the ship had likely been given automatic boarding passes, and maybe even passes for their families as well. And he had found the pass among the papers that seemed to be the plans for the ship. Eventually, Jeff read that the original official launch of the ship would be in one month. That meant that there would have to be some shakedown cruises in order to make sure that the ship worked properly. Given what Jeff had seen of the ship earlier, he guessed that they were behind their initial schedule.

After searching the internet a little bit more for some more information about the world and its current technology, which had advanced quite a bit in the last few decades, Jeff decided that to go to bed, even though it was only nine o'clock. He had a big day tomorrow and he had to be at the hangar at six o'clock in the morning.

The next day, Jeff woke up at around four-thirty A.M. He awoke fully rested and refreshed, which was a pleasant surprise to him. He had been quite nervous last night and a lot had been on his mind. However, he had had no trouble sleeping at all. He ate breakfast, some toast with orange juice, brushed his teeth, and took a shower. After his shower he quickly got dressed in his standard uniform. He had at least an hour to spare. He waited until around five-thirty before making his way to the hangar. Before he left, he packed his cookies, tuna, bread, and soda in his backpack. He wanted to be ready should anything go wrong and he and Flint be without any obvious means back to civilization. In essence, Jeff did everything he could to minimize the chances of Murphy's Law coming into effect. When he was ready, he made his way over to the hangar.

He arrived at the hangar twenty minutes before he had been ordered to arrive. He had left early in order to make sure that he did not get lost on the way and that if he did, he would be able to find his way around and get to the hangar on time. He was pleasantly surprised that it was easy for him to get to the hangar. Once he had arrived, he waited until Flint Sanders and the general showed up.

Right at six o'clock A.M., both Flint and General Scamp showed up at the hangar. The general quickly approached Jeff when he was within sight of the boy and said, "This is it. Get ready, son."

He then took Jeff aside and asked, "Do you have an internet phone that you can use?"

Jeff shook his head.

General Scamp then took out an advanced cellular phone that looked to be quite flat, with a screen on its top half. "This is an E-Phone," the general explained. He handed the phone to Jeff, along with an instruction manual. "The instructions on how to use the E-Phone are in that book. Put simply, you can access the internet with that phone and/or send images from your phone to my computer and/or the base itself. The line that you are using is encrypted so the enemy should not be able to intercept any information you send. Be sure to read the instructions, though. Technology, particularly cellular phone and computer technology, has advanced greatly since the turn of the millennium.

"Thank you, sir," Jeff said kindly, accepting the phone. This was quite great. Now, Jeff could quickly send information to General Scamp should there be any unexpected trouble. He could give the general, and the human race for that matter, a heads up should things go wrong and they not make it.

When Scamp was finished giving Jeff the E-Phone and explaining its use to the teen, he turned to Lieutenant Flint Sanders, who was already in his flight suit, holding his helmet in his right hand. "You'll have to brief the kid on flying as a passenger. Just don't do anything foolish up there. You're the only pilot in that fighter, and it fights best with two pilots."

"I understand, sir," Flint responded.

Scamp then turned to Jeff and said, "That reminds me, we have to suit you up, don't we?"

He then motioned for one of his aides that had accompanied him to the hangar. "Here's your flight suit. We have tailored this to your size, so it should fit you relatively comfortably."

The aide handed Jeff his flight suit and directed him to a restroom where he could change into the suit. He also took the opportunity to skim through the larger than expected instruction manual for the E-Phone. Once that was finished, Jeff emerged into the hangar once more and went back over to Flint. The severity of the situation still had not sunk in for him yet. When he had emerged back into the hangar, he approached the general and Flint once more.

"Now that you are ready, Lieutenant Sanders here will give you the basic instructions for your flight," General Scamp informed the teenage boy who was not even old enough to drive, let alone fly.

The next hour or so was spent preparing Jeff and putting him through various drills in order to prepare him for his first flight inside a military hypersonic fighter-bomber, the F-24 Wraith. Flint had told him that the fighter can be flown by one person, if need be, but in that configuration, it would not be good for much except for reconnaissance and fleeing an engagement. He had shown Jeff some of the basics of flying behind the pilot. Flint had not known this, but Jeff had had experience flying before, only it was UFO-like craft and he had a tendency to crash such vehicles. He had promptly assured Flint, though, that he would do his best to not cause any problems with the fighter. When Flint was convinced that he was ready for the mission, they went over to their fighter.

They arrived quickly at the fighter. It was pitch black and had no external weapons. Jeff suspected that it was a stealth plane. It looked very much like an amalgam of several futuristic stealth fighters from various movies. The rudders were canted outward in a similar fashion to the F/A-18 Hornet. Jeff had no doubt that this fighter was one of the most advanced fighters in the United States' Air Force. He just hoped that it would be able to handle itself in a fight against any UFOs that might happen to detect them on their approach to the White Ship. After all, they had to be scouting the White Ship for a reason, and if it was an emergency contingency plan should the war never end, then the first target of the Starmen would be the White Ship if they wanted to ensure humanity's destruction.

The two then proceeded to climb the ladder and board the plane. Flint filed into the front seat of the fighter, while Jeff took the rear seat. Inside the cockpit, Jeff could see the various controls and flight stick of the pilot's station. In his rear section, he noticed a radar station and sensor. He also detected that he had weapons control, though that could quickly be switched to the pilot at a moment's notice in an emergency situation. Jeff looked over the seat and saw Flint place the picture of a beautiful young woman on the console in front of him. Jeff saw that the woman had brown hair, bluish-gray eyes, was wearing a maroon sleeveless dress and was smiling. Jeff figured that the woman was either Flint's girlfriend or his wife. He did not know why, but there seemed to be something about that woman that was familiar in a way. The thought quickly left him, though.

It was not long before Flint was through the pre-flight checklist and the plane was beginning to move out onto the runway. From Flint's briefing, Jeff had learned that the fighter-bomber was hypersonic and capable of achieving speeds greater than mach four. Once the plane was on the runway, Jeff looked out the cockpit. He saw all of the fighters and attack planes that had been lined up on the runway yesterday. The two occupants of the plane soon heard the radio crackle, "Red One, you are clear for takeoff."

"Roger that," was Flint's response.

"Godspeed Lieutenant."

Those were the last words that Jeff heard over the radio before the jet began to accelerate. The force of the acceleration pushed Jeff back into his seat and as he watched the ground. The lines on the runway seemed to blur as the craft accelerated. He could slowly see the ground slip away. About one second later, though it seemed longer for Jeff, the ground seemingly literally fell out of view. The jet was aloft and they were on their way: their target, the White Ship Construction Yards.

Not far from the base, a man was watching the airfield from a small bungalow. He saw an F-24 Wraith takeoff through his binoculars, though he did not know who was onboard or what its mission was, but he knew his mission. He had to report everything back to his superiors. A radio sat next to the man. He fiddled with its controls to try to get a signal from inside the base, but nothing except static made its way though to the receiver.

"Damn," he swore. "They've found the listening device. Either that or it's malfunctioning," which would not have surprised him in the least. The dealer that he had gotten the equipment from had looked disreputable to say the least. He then took another look at the airfield and saw another fighter take off. Again, it was another F-24. It appeared as if air combat missions and patrols for the morning shift were starting early today. Still, he seemed suspicious of this behavior. It was not uncommon for the old F-28 Phantasms to take off and land all throughout the day, and into the night, since it was primarily an air superiority fighter, but for a Wraith to do so was strange since it was a true fighter-bomber.

Soon, another thought crossed his mind and he began to sweat. If the personnel inside the air base had found his listening device, then it was theoretically possible for them to track it back to its source. And they had decent number of troops stationed at the airbase as well. He nearly jumped at the realization. Wasting no time, he shut down the radio and packed away into his duffel bag. If he had been found out, he did not have much time before the base's troops would be on him. He quickly pushed a button on his radio and spoke into it, "This is Bravo Five to Echo Seven. My listening device is down. I may have been compromised. Before I leave, there is something you must know. An F-24 Wraith has taken off from the airbase near Threed. All I know is that it was headed west and that it was going pretty fast. It also had fuel tanks on its underbelly so it may be going on a long-range mission."

"Get out of there, now. You've done your job. I'll make the report to our masters," the voice responded, his voice uneasy. Bravo Five could tell that Echo Seven was unnerved. That only made him that much more worried. _Had they discovered the plans for the assassination attempt on the leaders at the peace conference_? He did not know, but he suspected that something was up. He then decided that it was best not to do any more musing and to just get out of there. His mission was accomplished, and soon, he would be introduced to a big, fat paycheck.

Just as he left his bungalow, the worst-case scenario occurred, for standing outside were no less than a dozen soldiers and MPs, all aiming their assault rifles right at his head. He had no chance of defeating and/or escaping that many troopers. One of the soldiers approached and ordered, "This area is off limits to civilians and unauthorized personnel. Show me your authorization pass."

Bravo Five knew that the moment that they knew that he did not have an authorization pass, that they would view him as a foreign spy and possible traitor at best, and a terrorist at worst. And if they decided to think of him as a terrorist, then he knew that the rest of his life would likely be a nightmare. Not only that, but they could not afford to know what he and his cell were planning, or who was supporting him. He still had a chance. His masters had given him a means of escape. He pushed a button on his watch, expecting to be teleported to their secret base in Fourside. Nothing happened. Again, the soldier demanded, "Show me your pass."

Again, Bravo Five pushed the button on his watch. Again, nothing happened. Things were looking grim, now. He pushed a second button and screamed into the watch, "Hey everyone, where are you? I've been found out! I need evac, now! I've given you everything I can!"

His only response came in the form of a low, cold voice, "Then, you're of no further use to us."

Just then, his watch began to beep. The man's eyes went wide as he realized that the watch doubled as a bomb. He tried to get the watch off, but immediately upon touching the device, it tightened on the skin and any exposed straps were immediately glued to the watch. The man could not get it off. So much for his massive paycheck. He then realized that he had been betrayed by his "benefactors" for becoming a liability. Knowing that he was about to die, he did the only thing he felt that he could to thumb his nose at his "benefactors."

"Listen, there's gonna be an assassination attempt on the leaders of the peace process," he called out to the troops. "But it's not just humans that want them dead, it's…" but he never finished his statement, for just that second, he exploded. The lead soldier who had requested the man's authorization pass had retreated to a safe distance when he had heard the watch begin to beep, so he was uninjured by the explosion, as were the other soldiers in the unit. Still, this recent turn of events had to be reported to General Scamp.

"Return to base, men," the leader ordered. "We're going to have to report to General Scamp on what happened here at once."

With that, the soldiers and Military Police officers left the scene and returned to General Scamp with another strange incident to add to the growing list of strange incidents that were occurring all around the area.


	7. Jeff Chapter 3

Jeff – Chapter 3:

Their flight lasted for about an hour before they reached their destination. So far, there had been no incidents. During the flight, Jeff made certain to learn more about the aircraft that he and Flint had been flying. The F-24 Wraith was a state of the art stealth fighter-bomber. It was designed to be virtually invisible to radar and also had a very low infrared signature. In addition to carrying AIM-9X Sidewinder, AIM-120 AMRAAM, and AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles, it could also carry AGM-65 Maverick air-to-surface missiles and AGM-88 HARM Mark IV anti-radar missiles. For this mission, the Wraith was outfitted with four Sidewinders, two AMRAAMs, as well as two Mavericks. Apparently, General Scamp had wanted Flint and Jeff to be prepared for whatever they encountered and while these missiles were old, by the standards of the mid-twenty-first century, they were still quite effective against their targets.

During the hour it took to reach their destination, Flint and Jeff talked little. Jeff had learned that Flint's wife, the woman in the photo that Flint had in the cockpit next to him, was named Hinawa, a strange name for what looked to be a Caucasian woman, Jeff thought silently. They had been married for three years and they did not have any children yet. Oddly enough, Flint had not initially been in the military and had only joined a few years ago. He came through Officer Candidacy School and had shown a high aptitude for flying. Ever since his first air combat mission, he had shown his skill in piloting jet fighters. At first, he had flown an old refurbished F-16 in combat against enemy MEE-27 Nighthawk and managed to shoot it down in an old-fashioned dogfight. Flint had said that he had just gotten lucky, but still, it was quite an accomplishment with an outdated craft. Little did Jeff know that the pilot of the Nighthawk had been none other than Captain Karim, who was now working with Flint and General Scamp in order to bring the various factions to the peace summit that was going to take place in what remained of Onett. In fact, before Karim had come onboard for peace between the various factions, he and Flint had had a number of other dogfights all throughout the war, with Flint being shot down in one subsequent fight, and others resulting in minor damage for both aircraft, or both pilots causing enough damage to the other's aircraft to force their planes to land away from any airstrip. That is how Flint and Karim had first met, face to face.

Flint spoke little about Hinawa, merely saying that she was the reason why he wanted to live a peaceful life. He did reveal that Hinawa had been one of the Chosen to go onboard the White Ship when it was ready to deploy. Her father, Alec, and his family had also been chosen. Flint then said that he, too, had a pass for the White Ship, but he was going to do everything he could to have there be peace in the world before he would abandon the world to its fate with the other ten thousand plus chosen onboard the White Ship. He had not given up, yet.

Not long before they had reached their destination, two blips appeared on radar. Soon, a voice crackled over the radio. "Red One, this is Green Leader, along with Green Two, we are here to escort you during your patrol of the White Ship's shipyard."

"I copy guys," Flint said over his radio. "Welcome to the show." Jeff had not expected there to be any escort for them. However, Flint did not seem worried about the new arrivals, so Jeff decided not to voice his concerns.

"I almost hope that there is something to these aliens coming," a different voice than Green Leader's said. Jeff guessed that this was Green Two. "That just might be the thing needed to bring the rest of the world to the peace table."

"Yeah," Flint replied with some trepidation. "But don't forget that if an alien force is willing to expend the resources to come to Earth and conquer it, then they must be pretty confident that they can win. Things may be bad now, but make no mistake, they can get worse."

"I know," Green Two agreed. But there was something in Green Leader's voice that threw Jeff off. He began to wonder if this was not just some elaborate trap. Jeff looked out his cockpit window and saw that the two fighters that were escorting Red One were of a different design than the F-24. These looked reminiscent of the F-22 Raptors. He had quickly learned that they were F-28 Phantasms. They were generally air superiority fighters. They were a lot like the old F-15s in that while they themselves were noticeably old, they were still some of the best planes in service today, only surpassed by the F-34 Switchblades, and that was mainly due to them having superior stealth packages to the F-28s. Jeff could still see a radar signature when looking at blips on the radar screen. However, they were quite small, so Jeff guessed that the fighters employed some form of stealth technology.

It was not long before the three aircraft were within sight of their destination, the shipyards where the White Ship was being constructed. The aircrafts slowed down as they approached the White Ship and its construction yards. The ship was even larger in person that he had heard earlier, or thought when looking at it on video. The ship was at least a mile long and seemed to have quarters for upwards of twenty thousand personnel. He could see no weapons or weapons ports on the White Ship. He guessed that if the ship were ever to be utilized that the people would want to forget about Earth as soon as possible. Still, the ship looked magnificent, just like a science fiction starship. It had a small spire in the middle of its dorsal section that looked to be an observation deck. There were windows all over the ship, allowing people to look out over the sea, or into space, depending on what it was designed to do, specifically. The article was not clear on that. The fact that the shipyards was along the water made Jeff think that the ship may have been a seagoing vessel, rather than a space-faring vessel.

Jeff looked out the cockpit window of the fighter and noticed three helicopters make their way to the construction site. He suddenly began to realize the reason why Flint had been sent here. The lead helicopter seemed to be a VIP transport of some sort and the two escorting helicopters were obviously military helicopters, though Jeff did not recognize the missiles that the military helicopters were carrying. The lead helicopter quickly landed and soon, several well-dressed individuals emerged from the helicopter.

"Looks like the senator's just arrived," Green Leader said over the radio.

Jeff got Flint's attention and said, "I didn't know that we were going to be on guard duty."

"We aren't," Flint replied. "Our mission is to patrol the area. The last sightings of the aliens, both at the observatory and over the White Ship, haven't been the only sightings around. There have been reports of various flying saucers appearing all over the more rural parts of America, Russia, China, and other important countries. The fact that the alien craft have appeared near the White Ship merely tells us that something is up, and we need to know if their target is the White Ship. Right now, it's the softest isolated, yet important, target they could have since it's our only means of escape should they invade the Earth and overwhelm us."

"So it's a trap."

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Flint replied. "If the aliens do come, we know that they view the White Ship as something important. Maybe it'll be due to its technology, maybe not. What will be made clear is that they exist. If they turn out to be peaceful, great. We'll have an example that the rest of humanity can follow. If they turn out to be hostile, then they will be exposed to the rest of the world, which will allow the world to turn its attention towards the outside threat and put aside its differences for a time. That's why we're here. We're here to make sure that any attack is seen by the rest of the world."

"But what happens if the aliens use proxies and the Middle Eastern Alliance or the Eastern Coalition launch an attack instead?" Jeff asked, seeing the obvious pitfalls in this plan.

"Then it will be very bad for the world," Flint replied in a melancholy tone of voice, indicating that he had thought of this scenario and that the consequences of just such an attack would be catastrophic. "It would be even worst than if the aliens never showed up at all. For then the war hawks of the NATO Alliance could point to the other two factions and simply call them traitors to the human race, or vice versa if any of the collaborators turn out to be NATO Alliance soldiers."

That thought gave Jeff no comfort. Sensing Jeff's unease, he looked back at Jeff. "Don't worry, Mr. Andonuts," Flint reassured him. "We're here to make sure that things like the aforementioned scenario don't happen."

"So what exactly is a senator doing here?" Jeff asked, changing the subject.

"Senator Richardson is here to oversee the final test before the White Ship begins its first shakedown cruise. He wishes to be here personally since if the peace process fails and nuclear war resumes, this ship could be humanity's last chance at survival as a species."

"I see."

"He's not the only one coming," Flint added. "There's also General Mikhail Koskov of the Eastern Coalition and Prime Minister Kadin Salaam of Afghanistan, of the Middle Eastern Alliance, that are coming. They should already be here."

As if on cue, two Russian MiGs that looked like Firefoxes from the movie, _Firefox_, flew by the Wraith. Not long after, a trio of fighters flew by. These were the MEE-27 Nighthawks that Flint had fought during the war. "These, along with Senator Richardson, are two of the most vocal proponents for the peace negotiations that are scheduled to begin in a few days. They also know of the appearances of the alien flying saucers, though they did not know of the most recent sightings until yesterday. They know what the mission here is, and the potential for trouble if things go wrong. They know the risks."

Jeff nodded. He just hoped that nothing bad would happen. Because if something happened to the senator, the Prime Minister, and the general, then the peace process may well be in jeopardy.

For the next thirty minutes, the three human fighters circled the shipyards, making sure that everything was in order. The three fighters had split up and were patrolling different sectors of the shipyards. Jeff suddenly realized what the fighters were doing. By patrolling certain sectors of the shipyards, they were making it seem as if their sensor range was limited. Should the aliens be monitoring the situation, they would not know that all three fighters could detect them from long range until it was too late. Even if giving the Starmen a false impression of the sensor range was the only advantage the human fighters had at the time, it was better than nothing. Still, Jeff wondered if the Starmen would fall for it. After all, they had invaded Earth twice in the past. And given what Karim had said, they encountered military forces in their attack on Dalaam.

It was not long before something of interest began to happen. A voice crackled in over the radio. Given its accent, Jeff guessed that the speaker was Middle Eastern. "I've picked up something strange on radar. It's over seventy kilometers away from sector four and coming at a steady, subsonic speed. Its radar signature is unlike anything I've ever seen."

"That's my sector," Flint radioed back. "I'll go check it out. Green Leader and Green Two, continue your normal patrol. We don't want to spook whoever it is that's coming."

With that, Flint and Jeff's F-24 Wraith peeled off from its standard patrol and sped off in the direction of the coming anomaly. Jeff checked his radar screen and saw a round signature on his screen. He informed Flint, "Flint, I think it's the Starmen. The round signature is the same as the UFOs that appeared over Onett, about the size of a modern jet fighter."

"We'll be within visual range in moments," Flint said over the radio. Just as he had said that, he saw a silver disk flying in the distance. Jeff did not need a second look to know that it was a UFO that belonged to the Starmen.

"It's them, alright," said Jeff in a low cautious voice. "But I'm surprised that there's only one of them."

"Yeah, me too," Flint said, echoing Jeff's sentiments. Flint then radioed the rest of the jets, both Green Squadron and the jets for the Middle Eastern Alliance and the Eastern Coalition. "Heads up, everybody, I have eyes on one UFO. It's about the size of our fighters. However, so far it's alone. If it's planning something, and it wouldn't be back here this soon if it wasn't, it wouldn't come in alone, especially with us checking things out. Check the radar and use your eyes. We don't want to be caught unawares."

A chorus of affirmations echoed through the radio. Jeff looked out the cockpit and focused on the UFO as their fighter approached. He checked the radar and infrared scanners to see if anything suspicious was going on with the UFO. Each second, the two aircraft got closer. Jeff realized that he could easily lock onto the craft. Apparently the craft did not have stealth technology, or if it did, it was based on technology and not inherent in its materials, paint, or shape. As the two craft got closer and closer to each other, Jeff checked his instruments. Just then, his mind began to wander and feelings of apprehension entered his mind. Jeff did not even know what he was doing here on this mission. His specialty was engineering and his experience with regards to the Starmen was fighting them with other help in the form of Ness, Paula, and Poo. His two attempts at piloting a craft resulted in said craft's crash both times. He was in no way qualified to do this. Still, he knew what was at stake. Having fought the Starmen, he knew that there was no negotiation, no surrender, no retreat. If the Starmen had come to invade, they had to be stopped, no matter the cost. To that end, Jeff resolved to do what was needed to stop them. Steeling himself and his mind, he focused on his job. The two aircraft continued to approach, though Flint decided to play it safe and he banked his fighter a little to the right. He wanted to let the aliens know that he was merely curious as to their intentions and that he was _not_ looking for a fight.

"Anything?" Flint asked back to his improvised weapons officer.

"Nothing yet," Jeff responded, checking the scanners. Just then, "Wait, something's happening. I'm getting stronger infrared readings inside the ship."

Flint looked out the cockpit and noticed the underbelly of the craft opening. "Flint, we've been spotted, they're deploying their cannon!" Jeff warned.

Just as Jeff gave his warning, Flint noticed the single cannon emerging from the underbelly of the UFO. He banked to his right, flying away from the craft, and he watched the cannon following his maneuver, along with the UFO. It was then that the UFO opened fire. A beam of what looked to be scarlet lightning erupted from the underbelly cannon of the UFO, targeting the fighter. Flint quickly banked to the left. The beam missed the Wraith by less than an inch to the right. The UFO swept the beam up in order to try to strike the craft, however, Flint's evasive maneuvers prevented the UFO from being able to get an accurate bead on the stealth fighter-bomber. It appeared as if the craft had trouble locking onto the F-24 and was relying on eyesight. Fortunately, Flint and the F-24 did not have the same problem. Flint selected one of the Sidewinder missiles, since they were within gun range of the alien craft and a beep began to sound in the cockpit. Within a second, the targeting crosshairs centered in on the UFO and the beeping became faster until it was a steady tone.

"Red One, Fox Two!" Flint called out as he pressed the firing button on his flight stick. The weapons bay opened and unleashed a single AIM-9X Sidewinder upon the UFO, even as the alien craft continued to fire at the Wraith in a vain attempt to take down the Earth fighter. The missile streaked towards its target and in less than a second, impacted with the UFO and detonated. The resulting impact and detonation of the missile tore the UFO to shreds in an instant. Metallic fragments of the alien craft rained down onto the shipyards below. Jeff was shocked, pleasantly so, at the seeming fragility of the UFO.

"I have a confirmed kill," Flint called out over the radio.

"Great," Flint heard Green Leader respond over the radio. "We could really use your help back here. You were right, that thing wasn't alone."

"How many?" Flint asked, now realizing that the UFO he had engaged may well have been a decoy that was sent to lure away as many fighters as it could from the White Ship, assuming the White Ship was the target.

"At least eight big ones, and too many smaller UFOs. We've managed to down a few of them, and the MiGs and the Nighthawks have a couple big ones to their credit too, but we're getting swamped back here."

"I'm on my way." Flint then turned back to Jeff and told him, "Get ready, kid. We're about to go into the fire."

"I'm ready," Jeff said, managing to keep his voice from wavering. This was the first time he would be going into aerial combat. He was apprehensive, but also very excited at the thought of engaging in aerial combat against the UFOs.

Flint immediately banked the fighter so that it was headed back towards the White Ship. Even though he suspected that the White Ship was the target, he wondered if there was something else going on here. He soon noticed that while there were several UFOs engaging the Green Squadron and the other fighters, he noticed that they seemed to be trying to keep them occupied. Jeff then checked his scanners and found a couple of larger UFOs along with some smaller UFOs, ones that were the size of toys, headed towards the helicopters that were on the ground.

"Flint, I tally two Fighter UFOs," a term that Jeff coined on the spot to distinguish between the fighter-sized UFOs and the smaller, toy-sized UFOs, "and several Toy UFOs headed towards the senator's helicopter."

The UFOs were already starting their attack run while Jeff had been speaking. The first UFO targeted the lead passenger helicopter and fired a green plasma beam. The beam erupted from its cannon and unleashed all of its destructive force on the grounded helicopter. The beam struck the helicopter, which exploded in a shower of shrapnel. Jeff offered a silent prayer that the helicopter had been unoccupied at the time of its destruction. The UFOs quickly began their attack run on the second grounded helicopter when the helicopter escorts for Senator Richardson turned to face the oncoming UFOs. The lead helicopter fired two air-to-air missiles that Jeff did not recognize at first at the lead UFO. They streaked towards the UFOs, but the smaller UFOs interspersed themselves between the missiles and the UFO, firing their green energy pulse cannons. The pulse cannons were sufficient to make short work of the missiles.

The UFOs responded by firing their beams at the closest of the two military helicopters. The beam scored a direct hit on the rear half of the lead helicopter. The rear rotor and tail was completely blown off and the helicopter spun out of control as it began to fall to the ground. The helicopter struck the ground, but Jeff did not see it explode. He offered a silent prayer for the survival occupants of the downed helicopter.

The second helicopter then opened fire with its cannon on the Toy UFOs that were guarding the larger two UFOs as they destroyed a second grounded helicopter. The tracer cannon fire of the surviving military helicopter tore into the ranks of the Toy UFOs, shattering them with each impact. However, the shells of the helicopter's cannon merely bounced off the hull of the larger two UFOs. That gave the UFO the time it needed to target the other helicopter. It was about to shoot down the helicopter when the UFO was struck by a missile. The missile managed to pierce its hull and explode, gouging a large hole in the alien craft. The UFO quickly fell to the Earth, spilling metallic debris with smoke trailing the craft, and impacted the ground, exploding on contact. The second UFO, however, still managed to fire at the remaining military helicopter. A green burst of plasma erupted from the craft's cannon and struck the military helicopter. The helicopter exploded in midair, its flaming wreckage falling back to Earth, where it crashed and fell apart. The surviving UFO then turned its cannon towards the aircraft that had fired on it, an F-28 Phantasm. Unfortunately for the UFO, the Phantasm's pilot was faster on the draw as it unleashed a Sidewinder missile right at the UFO. The UFO tried to perform evasive maneuvers while wildly firing a stream of plasma at both the enemy aircraft as well as the missile, hitting neither. The craft was not agile enough, or its pilot not skilled enough in its operation, to evade the missile. The missile scored a direct impact on the side of the spacecraft and exploded, engulfing the UFO in flames. The missile tore a hole in the side of the UFO and flames erupted from the wound. The UFO promptly exploded in midair, raining down shrapnel and debris upon the ground and the side of the White Ship. Its flaming wreckage fell back to Earth, where the destroyed carcass of the UFO impacted the ground and fell apart.

The previous series of events did not go unnoticed by Flint, who had done his best to get back to the White Ship and enter the main fight as quickly as possible. He quickly opened a channel to Senator Richardson. "Senator, you must know by now what's going on above you. I highly recommend that you and the other delegates evacuate the area immediately. We'll cover you while you get to the surviving grounded helicopter."

"Negative, Red One," he heard the senator respond. "You get yourselves and the others clear. It's us they want. We've already suffered casualties down here. We don't need any more." The senator then paused. "Besides, we'll never make it to the surviving helicopter alive. They say that there are more UFOs coming. One of the MiGs said the same thing."

"My radar shows no other bogeys besides the ones that the rest of the jets are engaging," Flint responded. Jeff then quickly checked the radar and the infrared scanners. He saw no added blips on radar at all.

"Nothing, Flint," Jeff told Flint, confirming what Flint already knew.

"We see nothing, Senator."

"That can't be," the senator said. "One of the Nighthawks said that there were four more UFOs coming in. Are you sure?"

"We double-checked our readings, sir," Flint responded. "There's nothing else coming unless they're using stealth spacecraft. And the UFOs we're currently facing have no stealth technology to them at all." Flint then opened a channel to Green Leader and said, "Green Leader, check your instruments. Do you see anymore UFOs coming in?"

After a moment of silence, Green Leader's voice came back over the radio, "No, Red One, should I?"

"I don't know," Flint responded. "Senator Richardson said that Green Two and a couple of the others told him and the other delegates that there were more UFOs coming."

"Well, I'm not picking up any…" Green Leader was cut off as an explosion sounded. Soon, only static came through on the radio. Flint saw the flaming wreckage of an F-28 Phantasm tumble past his cockpit. He looked into the air and saw a pilot in a controlled descent thanks to his deployed parachute falling back to the Earth. At least Green Leader had managed to eject safely.

Jeff looked at his radar and saw that an MEE-27 Nighthawk was coming up from behind. Something was not right here. They did not look like they were trying to cover the Wraith, just the opposite. "Flint, I think we've got a bogey on our six."

Jeff's suspicion was confirmed when a stream of tracer fire flashed past the canopy of the fighter. "Unidentified Nighthawk, what are you doing?" Flint yelled into the radio.

"I'm doing what I came here to do, kill you," a male voice crackled through coldly. By his accent, and the fact that he was flying a Nighthawk, Flint guessed that the pilot was likely Middle Eastern. This had to be the Nighthawk's pilot.

"What do you mean?" Flint cried into the radio. "Who sent you?"

"Our leaders," the pilot replied curtly, and mysteriously.

"And who are your leaders?"

"That does not matter. All that matters is that we have been fighting this war for over ten years. Peace may come easily for you and some others like Kadin Salaam, but not all of us are so easily swayed from our duty to fight."

"Are you nuts?" Flint called into the radio incredulously. "Have you seen the latest casualty reports? One point six billion dead, nearly as many wounded or sterile. Most of Africa is a graveyard. All of these disasters are due to the wars that we're fighting right now. Now we have a chance to actually end this madness and hammer out a treaty that everyone can live with."

"I can't! My comrades can't. Even some of your own people can't. That is why we cannot allow this treaty to go on. I can't stomach the prospect of living at peace with America, Israel, or even our own leaders that want this 'peace' so desperately."

"And what about your family?" Flint asked, trying to appeal to the one thing that the pilot may still have left. "What about them? Do you want them to live in a burnt out wasteland of a world?"

Flint heard the pilot laugh over the radio. "That does not matter anymore. My family is already dead thanks to this war. Humanity has failed itself, now it must suffer the consequences."

"Then you should want this war to end more than anyone!" Flint yelled into the radio.

The other pilot did not answer. Flint quickly saw another volley of fire flash past the cockpit. That was the only answer that he was going to get. He uttered a silent prayer of thanks that his plane had the latest in stealth technology, and a minimal heat signature. Flint figured that this pilot was not all that skilled. Still, he knew now that the Nighthawk pilot had nothing left except his hatred, and that nothing he said could get through to him. It was then that he heard his weapons officer, Jeff warn him, "We've got incoming!"

Sure enough, the Nighthawk had launched a Sidewinder towards his fighter. Since it was stealth and had a low heat signature, though, it would be easy for him to fool a heat-seeker. He immediately gunned the throttle and began a climb, straight for the sun, which was shining brightly. As he flew towards the sun, he saw a stream of tracer rounds fly past his cockpit. He glanced behind him and saw that the Nighthawk was now being joined by one of the MiGs. He also saw that the missile was closing in. As soon as he was close enough to the sun, he swerved away from the sun, praying that the missile would zero in on the sun. The missile locked onto the heat signature of the sun and streaked towards the sun, away from the Wraith.

The radio then crackled once more. "You will not get away so easily."

It was then that Flint gave his response. "Is this what your family would have wanted?"

Jeff then interrupted Flint by shouting, "You don't know what's at stake. The world must join together now, or they'll be in no condition to resist the Starmen. Humanity will be destroyed! I know! I've fought them before!"

"Why do you think I'm here to kill the organizers of the peace process?" the pilot laughed over the radio. "We knew for a long time that the PSI Aliens were planning an invasion of the Earth. They were the one who told us that one of the Chosen would be here. Not only will the leaders of the peace process die, but so, too, will a member of the Chosen Four."

Jeff began to shudder. It seemed as if the aliens, PSI Aliens, as the Nighthawk pilot called them, were aware of Jeff's presence here. Not only that, but they knew that he would be here, and that they would be flying in a Wraith. Even worse was the fact that the "we" that the Nighthawk pilot was referring to may well have been the human allies of the PSI Aliens, and not just the Aliens, themselves. Still, they had to kill Jeff and three of the leaders of the peace process, which would be difficult. For while the pilot had been speaking, Flint had accelerated forward far beyond the top speed of the MEE-27 Nighthawk and the MiG. Flint then made a sharp turn back towards the Nighthawk. While the Nighthawk did have a limited stealth package, its package and design did nothing to confuse heat-seeking missiles. He quickly targeted the Nighthawk with a Sidewinder missile. The missile erupted from the weapons bay and streaked towards the Nighthawk. The Nighthawk tried to fly towards the sun, using the strategy that Flint had used against him, but the missile was too fast for it, and its heat signature too great. The missile impacted the Nighthawk in its engines and exploded. The explosion tore apart the rear end of the jet fighter and it began to roll as it fell to the Earth, smoke trailing the flaming jet. The jet quickly plummeted into the Earth and crashed, exploding upon impact. Flint did not see a parachute in the sky. It seemed as if the pilot had not managed to eject. All that was left was to deal with the renegade MiG.

The MiG, a jet that had been identified as a Firefox, accelerated towards Flint. Knowing that the MiG had a superior stealth package to the Nighthawk, Flint fired a volley of cannon fire from his cannons. The tracer rounds streaked towards the MiG, though Flint did not expect them to inflict a lot of damage. Surprisingly, though, some of the rounds managed to strike the plane. The small 20-millimeter rounds tore a few small holes into the wing of the MiG. The MiG rolled sharply to the left before leveling out again, however, it was beginning to list, struggling to maintain its stability in flight. Flint quickly reversed his throttle as he passed the damaged aircraft and turned back in order to face down the MiG. The damaged MiG tried to turn, but in its injured state, could not hope to match the maneuverability of the F-24 Wraith. Flint quickly lined up his craft with the final renegade aircraft and pulled the trigger. Tracer rounds tore through the engines and fuselage of the aircraft. The jet began to smoke and fall to the Earth, nose first. The craft soon impacted the ground and exploded, dangerously close the White Ship, pelting the ship with shrapnel.

Flint then flew away from the wreck and opened a channel to Senator Richardson. "Senator, if you heard what was going on up here, you know that there are those who want to kill you in order to prolong this war, and that they are working with a race of beings called the PSI Aliens. They are likely the race that we encountered earlier. You and the others must evacuate immediately."

"What about those UFOs, Lieutenant?" came the response.

"My scopes are negative. If they are coming, you should leave now before things get too hot. Green Two and I will remain behind to cover your escape. That okay Green Two?" Flint asked the surviving Phantasm.

"Fine with me," Green Two responded with an air of cockiness. "I have to make ace one of these days. May as well be today." Flint could almost see Green Two's grin.

"Get going now," Flint told the senator and the other leaders. "We'll stay here to cover you and tie up any remaining UFOs."

The senator then said, "Okay, but be careful. While you're there, if any other UFOs try to attack the White Ship, protect it at all costs. If this peace process fails, that ship could be the only hope for the remnants of humanity."

"Understood, sir," Flint replied evenly. Still, he did not like having to stay to protect the ship. He knew of the ship's importance, but he still thought that the peace process could still succeed. Still, he had a job to do and he intended to do it.

With that, Flint and Green Two went to work. Most of the larger UFOs had been shot down by the loyal Nighthawks and MiG during Flint's engagement with the renegade Nighthawk and MiG. Flint glanced towards the ground and saw the senator and the other leaders make their way towards a humvee. The remaining Nighthawks and MiG quickly began to follow the humvee as it drove away from the scene. Flint could only hope that they made it to the secondary fallback point and from there, could make it to the peace conference. Flint then turned his attention back to the surviving UFOs.

Flint and Green Two then went back and targeted the two remaining UFOs. After getting a tone, they fired one missile each towards the UFOs. Two shots, two kills. The debris from the two UFOs rained down on the White Ship, pelting its hull with metallic shards. Flint made one flyby near the exit point of the shipyards and Jeff checked the scanners. There were no UFOs present near the evacuating humvee and the fleeing jets. Confident that the humvee was away from danger, and in good hands with the other three jets escorting it, he turned back to the White Ship just as Green Two's voice rang out over the radio. "Hey Red One, I think that that traitorous Nighthawk pilot may have been telling the truth about the incoming UFOs. I tally three more blips coming in from the west."

Sure enough, there were three UFOs approaching the White Ship at high speed. They were coming in much faster than the previous UFOs had approached. Not only that, but the lead UFO was much larger than its two escorts. This UFO was about the same size as the UFO that had appeared over Ness's house in Onett.

"Get ready, Green Two," Flint told his new wingman. "We've got a lot of fight headed our way."

"I copy that," Green Two replied with excitement.

Flint glanced back towards Jeff and asked him the question that had immediately come to mind when he saw the larger UFO. "Well, is that the same type of UFO that appeared in Onett just before you appeared here?"

"Yeah," Jeff responded quietly, simply gazing at the alien craft. He quickly steeled himself for battle.

"What do you know about that thing? Any weaknesses?"

"I don't know," Jeff replied. "We never got a chance to fight the craft. It did seem to be commanded by a psychic that could utilize psychic counter-shielding, though. However, psychic shields are useless against non-psychic attacks. However, I wouldn't be surprised if its pilot could use normal counter-shields as well if this is, indeed, the same craft that appeared over Onett."

Flint grimaced. He did not want to go into this fight without any information. He then shrugged as he turned towards the UFOs. The plan for battle soon came to Flint's mind. He opened a channel to Green Two and told him of the plan. "Okay Green Two, here's the plan. Target the two escorting Fighter UFOs first. We need to take them out so we can strike at the larger ship with impunity."

"Got it," Green Two replied, his eagerness to get this started was evident by the sound of his voice. Still, Jeff was suspicious. He could not place his finger on it, but he thought that something was up. Instead of headed towards the fleeing leaders, the UFOs were headed towards the White Ship. It was as if destroying the White Ship was the only real mission. Could the assassination attempts have been nothing more than a decoy to get rid of all of the other fighters? While it was only three against two, one of the UFOs looked to be quite powerful.

Red One and Green Two quickly turned towards the UFOs and armed their missiles. Their targeting systems quickly locked onto the two Fighter UFOs. Upon hearing a steady tone, they pushed the firing studs of their flight sticks. Two missiles erupted towards the UFOs. Flint's missile zeroed in on the starboard, relative to the giant UFO, Fighter UFO. The missile impacted the Fighter UFO and detonated, annihilating the escorting Fighter UFO. However, things still did not go as planned, for Green Two's missile had locked onto the larger UFO. The missile had streaked towards the larger UFO and, sure enough, had impacted a shield over the alien craft. The shield flared into existence for a brief instant as the missile struck the shield and exploded, inflicting minimal damage to the shield and no damage to the large UFO. Flint quickly noticed this and roared over the radio, "What the heck was that Green Two? I told you to target the smaller escorting UFO!"

Green Two's response was ominous and cold. "Just following orders, Red One."

Flint did not like the tone of Green Two's voice at all. Jeff quickly checked the radar and found that Green Two was sliding in behind them. "Flint, go evasive!" Jeff shouted in warning. Flint quickly banked his jet to the right and cut to the right. Just then, Flint saw a missile flash past the plane. Green Two had just tried to shoot him down.

"What are you doing?" Flint called over the radio.

"Accomplishing my mission," Green Two replied, the scorn in his voice evident.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you are protecting our target, the White Ship," Green Two responded haughtily. "That, and because your passenger is also one of my masters' targets."

"Your masters?" Flint asked, despite knowing the answer as he asked the question.

"You know, the PSI Aliens," Green Two mocked.

"You know what they want. Why are you serving them?" Flint asked, wondering what Green Two's reasons for trying to kill him and Jeff were.

"Because I fight for the winning side," Green Two replied as if he could not perceive of another answer. "Humanity is toast, even if this peace process succeeds. Even if every single country and person in the world united against the Aliens, they would still lose. They'd still lose even if this invasion took place before World War Three. However, the PSI Aliens tend to spare certain collaborators who show good potential as servants, or merely assist them in some meaningful fashion. I think that killing one of the Chosen Four should be sufficient to assure me a place among the PSI Aliens."

Green Two then cut the transmission and proceeded to try to match the maneuvers of Flint's Wraith. Since the Wraith had a strong stealth package, it had a distinct advantage over the Phantasm. The fact that the Phantasm still showed up on radar, albeit with a reduced radar signature, did not help it. Flint had hoped that the missile that had streaked past the cockpit was the main plan for Green Two. If it was, he could take advantage of his superior maneuverability and be able to evade Green Two's fire. The problem, though, came in the form of the Fighter UFO that was fast approaching. Flint was now beginning to wonder if the entire plan all along had merely been to lure out Jeff, since he seemed quite important to the PSI Aliens.

He quickly accelerated towards the large UFO and its sole remaining escort. He locked onto he escorting Fighter UFO while dancing around the gunfire that Green Two was unleashing on his fighter. With a single push of a button, a Sidewinder was unleashed upon the remaining escort UFO. The missile quickly reached its target and detonated, taking the Fighter UFO with it. Now, it was just Flint's F-24 Wraith, Green Two's F-28 Phantasm, and the giant UFO.

Flint approached the giant UFO and the gunfire seemed to die down. Flint smiled. It was just as he thought. Green Two did not want to risk firing on the larger UFO despite its shields. He was trying to make nice with his new masters, knowing that one false move was most certainly going to be fatal. Flint took advantage of this and quickly dove straight for the UFO, making certain to weave and dodge the sporadic gunfire. The shields of the alien craft flashed as the bullets from Green Two's cannon struck. Flint then armed his two AGM-65 Maverick missiles and unleashed them upon the alien craft. These, too, impacted the shields, but the shields' flaring lasted longer this time and the flash spread throughout the shields. Flint smiled. It seemed that with enough conventional missiles, these larger UFOs could be taken down. This information had to be taken back to General Scamp. However, he still had to deal with Green Two. He quickly swerved away from the UFO and began to accelerate away towards the White Ship at full throttle. His hope was to be able to get enough distance between himself and Green Two that he could Immelmann and face off against Green Two head on. He was able to do so and performed the Immelmann turn and faced off against Green Two directly.

Green Two saw this and immediately turned to face off against Flint. He quickly accelerated to his top speed and began to fire his cannon. Flint waited for his missiles to lock onto the Phantasm before opening fire. When the beeping became a steady tone he unleashed his missile. The missile streaked towards the Phantasm just as Green Two fired every missile he had at Flint. The fire from one of his cannons managed to strike Flint's missile and shot it off course. Unfortunately, Flint had also opened fire with his own cannons and his bullets tore through the tail rudder and part of a wing of Green Two's Phantasm, causing it to descend. Try as Green Two might, he could not keep the craft aloft. He then decided that it was best to ditch the jet and hope that he had managed to take down Flint's fighter. He then ejected from his doomed fighter and it then fell back to the Earth and exploded. Unfortunately for Flint, though, one of Green Two's missiles had managed to strike his fighter. It clipped a part of his Wraith's left wing. The craft shook at the impact and explosion. Flint quickly found that he had no control over the fighter at all, and that it was beginning to descend rapidly.

"Jeff, the plane's going down. We're going to eject," Flint called back to Jeff quickly.

"Got it," Jeff replied.

Flint then reached down to a lever on his left and pulled it up. Explosive charges went off around the cockpit and the canopy flew off the fighter. Rockets fired beneath the two seats of the aircraft and the two seats rocketed into the air. Jeff watched as the once magnificent F-24 Wraith plunged into the ground and exploded near the White Ship. As the two were at the apex of their flight, they began to descend. Their parachutes opened and they descended slowly to the ground, trying to land near the White Ship. When they finally reached the ground, they impacted the ground faster than Jeff had expected. He hit the ground and promptly fell. The fall stunned him for a second. After he recovered, he rose and unstrapped himself from his parachute and looked over to Flint, who was already making his way towards the White Ship.

"We have to get to the White Ship, now," Flint told him. "It's the only place where we can find cover."

As if to accentuate his point, a plume of dirt kicked up and they quickly heard a gunshot sound in the distance. Flint turned and saw a human running towards them. The two of them then rushed towards the boarding hatch to the White Ship, which was miraculously close to the two. Flint drew out his pistol and fired off a couple rounds back at the human, who he assumed to be Green Two. Soon, the two of them were at the hatch and Flint pulled out his boarding pass. He stuck it in a slot and the hatch to the ship opened. He and Jeff then dove inside and closed the hatch as bullets bounced off the door. Once inside, Flint handed Jeff the laser pistol that he had taken from Jeff in the research facility. They then went a little deeper into the ship until they reached a corridor that would provide a good chokepoint. They quickly moved a few of the crates that were against the wall into the corridor in order to provide some cover from enemy fire. It was here that they would ambush Green Two should he manage to enter. Now, all they could do is wait, and pray.


	8. Jeff Chapter 4

Jeff – Chapter 4:

Jeff and Flint waited in the corridor behind a makeshift barricade made of metallic crates and an overturned table. While Jeff did not think that Green Two had a pass card to get into the ship, they would not be surprised if he had a few grenades or a block of C4, or whatever the future variant of C4 was. Jeff went back towards the hatch to see if Green Two had managed to enter the ship. Just as he neared the corridor that led to the hatch, he saw it open. He immediately retreated as he saw not only the man that he assumed to be Green Two, due to the flight suit, enter the ship, but three other men come in along with Green Two. Jeff quickly realized that one of the soldiers that had entered was not even human. The gray suit, the seemingly tentacle-like arms, the visor, and emblem on the chest gave the new visitor away as a Starman. His diminutive size made Jeff think that this was a Starman Junior. From what Ness had told him during their last adventure, Starman Juniors were not as strong as normal Starmen. This gave Jeff no comfort, though, because Starmen Juniors had psychic attacks, such as PSI Fire and PSI Freeze, both of which could be cast at both the Alpha and Beta levels.

Jeff ran back the way he came and dove behind the cover that Flint had managed to erect. "I really hope you either have some grenades or there were some grenades lying around," Jeff called to Flint, his voice a clear indication that things had gone from bad to worse.

"No, sorry. Why do you ask?"

"Because Green Two got some reinforcements." He then paused before continuing in an ominous tone. "And one of them is a Starman Junior. He's not as powerful as a normal Starman physically, but he more than makes up for it with powerful psychic attacks."

"Can we beat them?" Flint asked with a note of concern.

"Yes, but it won't be easy. We have to take out that Starman Junior before he manages to launch a psychic attack. He could kill the two of us with ease."

Almost immediately after Jeff had taken the laser pistol, Green Two and his reinforcements appeared from around the corner. Jeff quickly scanned the soldiers, three humans and the Starman Junior. He immediately fired a pulse of energy from the pistol. The scarlet pulse struck the Starman Junior in the chest and burned a hole into the alien creature. He quickly fired two more pulses, one struck the Starman Junior in the abdomen, and the other in the head. The Starman Junior fell backwards with three holes in its body. After it fell to the ground, it ceased its movement. Jeff hoped that it was dead.

Meanwhile, Flint had managed to fell one of his attackers before the other two, one of them being Green Two, ducked back around the corner.

"You can't win, Flint," the familiar voice of Green Two yelled. "The PSI Aliens know where you are. You won't escape this ship alive. The White Ship will be destroyed. That can't be avoided."

"Do you really think that we'll simply lay down and die without a fight?" Flint countered. "The odds have evened out considerably."

"It doesn't matter what happens to us," Green Two said, trying to make his voice sound convincing, but both Jeff and Flint could tell that he was having second thoughts about his decision to side with the PSI Aliens, mainly because there was a good chance that he was going to die soon. "We'll still be able to take down the two of you." His confidence in his voice, or rather, the lack thereof, did not match the confidence of his words.

Soon, Green Two and his cohort quickly emerged from the cover of the corner and took some shots at Flint and Jeff. Their assault rifles spitting out a steady stream of bullets in the direction of Flint and Jeff. The makeshift cover that Flint had erected, however, had proven effective and managed stop the gunfire of Green Two and his cohort. Jeff and Flint quickly emerged from cover and returned fire, a hail of bullets and laser pulses boring holes into the two remaining assailants. Green Two and his cohort attempted to retreat behind the corner, but the first shots of both Jeff and Flint had managed to find their marks. The subsequent volley of gun and laser fire merely sealed the deal. Within seconds, Green Two and his cohort were dead. Jeff quickly emerged from cover and ran towards the still quivering corpses of Green Two and his cohort, a female soldier that wore robes that Jeff had recognized as those that had been worn by Middle Eastern terrorists of the late twentieth century, quickly searched their bodies for ammunition clips and for any other weapons that they may have carried. He found that they had several extra clips for the standard nine-millimeter caliber handgun as well as two grenades each, as well as a couple of flashbangs. Jeff also took their assault rifles and then headed back to Flint.

Once he returned to Flint they evenly divided the spoils of the fight. Once each of them was armed, they made their way further through the ship. Jeff knew that it would not be long before the enemy either sent more troops to attack the ship, or simply fired on the White Ship itself and kill two birds with one stone.

"Hurry," Flint told Jeff, grabbing him by the hand and leading him deeper into the ship. "We have to get to the engineering section to start up the ship. Then we'll have to go to the bridge to actually begin to pilot it."

This got Jeff's attention and he glanced quizzically back at Flint. "What do you know about this ship? And why do we have to pilot it?"

"A lot. I know its entire layout."

"And how do you know so much about the ship?" Jeff inquired. "I know that you were chosen, but were you one of its builders?"

"No," Flint answered. "When the plans for the White Ship were drawn up, things were really looking grim for the world. Terrorists were bombing cities in the U.S. and in other NATO countries. America and the other NATO countries responded with extreme force. Sometimes they even responded with nuclear force just to send the message that they had had enough. Just when it seemed as if the war was going to end, the Eastern Coalition unleashed a new weapon. It was a bioweapon, some new type of bioengineered animals, on the world. Soon, the Middle Eastern Alliance and the NATO Alliance got access to these animals and engineered some more. The war started all over again, with even more destruction occurring because they could lay waste to cities without having to worry about the radioactive fallout that comes with the use of nukes. General Scamp and a few others knew where the world was headed, so they drew up and began construction on the White Ship. We used advanced alien technology that we had reverse engineered back at Area 51 to design the 4th-D Slip Drive. We can use 4th-D Slip to evade the oncoming saucer. It is likely that that saucer has the firepower to destroy, or damage it sufficiently to force this White Ship to be scrapped, in little more than one shot, and without any escape craft, it's probably our only chance of getting out of here, unless those aliens land one of their UFOs, which isn't likely.

"I had been given a boarding pass because I had not only proven my skills as a pilot, but because I also had originally had aspirations of being an archaeologist, and had been raised as a farmer. On this ship are, or will be, all of the basics that we need to build ourselves a new life, and even a new and simpler way of life. Once this ship is fully stocked, it will be supplied with food, water, medicine, farming and building tools and equipment, everything except weapons or the ammunition necessary to use them." Flint then gave a chuckle. "Which is ironic because weapons, or rather ammunition, is the one thing we need right now."

Jeff did not join in Flint's chuckle. "But what good does that do us?" Jeff asked, wondering what Flint was thinking. "This ship hasn't even had a shakedown cruise and if there are no weapons on this ship, then there's no way for us to fight off the other saucer."

"According to the data that Scamp gave me before about this ship, the maneuver that it would use to allow the occupants of the ship to survive until we reach an area that has as of yet been untouched by modern humans is called the Fourth Dee Slip. It is based upon a psychic technique that was used by one of the first known confirmed psychics in the world, a person that went by the name of Ninten. In battle, it merely allowed him to escape from a group of enemies should things look bad by phasing into another dimension and fleeing the scene unnoticed, then phasing back once the danger had passed. That, in essence, is what the people of the White Ship are going to do. They are going to flee the world and its war and secretly find a safe haven where humanity can start anew without our current technology. There are also rumors that there are other plans in place. One of them is the replacement of the memories of everyone onboard the White Ship when we reach our final destination."

Jeff could hear the note of disapproval in Flint's voice while talking about the plan to replace people's memories with new ones. Jeff also did not like the plan that Flint was talking about. Jeff hoped that they were still just rumors. Now, more than ever, he was hoping and praying that the peace process would work out. For if humanity was forced to use the White Ship to escape, and erased their memories, all of this could very well happen again in the future.

As the two continued to make their way to the engineering section of the vessel, Jeff was looking closely at the junk that was strewn around the corridors, searching for something that could be either salvaged or converted into something usable. Along the way, he found the remains of a couple of broken harmonicas and collected them while Flint continued to make his way forward. Jeff remembered from the first War Against Giygas that he could use the Broken Harmonica to build a Baddest Beam gun with the proper materials and a little bit of hard work. Anyhow, it would be better than the laser pistol that he was currently stuck with. All he needed now were some spare parts and maybe a wire or small tube, and maybe a battery of some sort and then he would be in business. He quickly found discarded wires, small tubes, and even some batteries strewn around the ship. Jeff had also found some flak jackets with reinforced trauma plates in order to protect them from enemy fire. He quickly followed the corridor until he found Flint near a staircase. When he reached Flint, he handed Flint the flak jacket. Flint removed his flight suit, revealing what looked to be a cowboy outfit underneath and placed the flak jacket over his shirt. Jeff did likewise and soon, they made their way up the staircase. Until they had the power on, the stairs were the only way to get from deck to deck. The two of them quickly climbed up the staircase until they were on the engineering deck.

They emerged from the staircase and found themselves in another corridor. The two of them then decided to rest since they had a defensible position in the engineering room. While Flint entered the room, Jeff remained in the corridor and began to work on the broken harmonicas that he had collected in order to convert it into a Baddest Beam guns. Within a few hours, he had built two working Baddest Beam guns. He had even managed to construct Energy Rifles for the both of them. That took another two hours. They quickly went to the first door that they found and they entered. Inside they found themselves in the reactor room. Blank consoles lined the floor in front of them. Jeff imagined the ship being active and officers sitting at the consoles, pushing buttons all day long, much like what happened onboard starships in many science fiction television shows. In the center of the room stood a large, cylindrical reactor. It was massive, easily thirty feet high from what Jeff could see. All around the reactor, there were walkways framed by railings and consoles. Flint went over to one of the consoles and pushed a single button, turning on the console. Apparently emergency power had been in standby mode. After the console had booted up, he quickly made pushed a series of buttons as he made his way through the menus until he had activated the ship's emergency power. With that, he would at least be able to activate auxiliary power, which should be sufficient for the ship to activate its 4th-D Slip. Just then, the ship lurched a bit. Jeff thought that he had heard something impact the ship.

"We have to hurry," Jeff warned. "What can I do to help?"

"Just stay out of my way," Flint responded. "The best thing you can do is simply watch the door to make sure that anyone who may have come into the ship after Green Two and his cronies does not make it in here."

He then tapped some more buttons as Jeff headed off to watch the entrance to the reactor room. Jeff went out into the corridor and quickly heard the sounds of footsteps and voices. He ducked back into the reactor room and alerted Flint to the situation, "Snap it up Flint, we've got company."

"Almost done," Flint responded while initiating the final startup sequence for the ship. "We'll still have to control the ship from the bridge, though."

_We'll have to make it to the bridge first_, Jeff thought unhappily. He quickly unslung his Energy Rifle and aimed it at the opening towards the stairwell. He could hear the voices of their potential pursuers approaching. He could even begin to make out the words that they were speaking.

"Keep searchin' you scum! Those two have to be here somewhere! There's a reward for killin' the boy." The speaker could not keep the sound of his greed out of his voice.

"They may have made it to the reactor room. We don't have the technical skill to overload the reactor," another had said.

"Screw that," said a third. "We have to kill these guys before Master Giygas decides to blow up the ship, and them, with us still on it."

Jeff flinched at the name Giygas. _Giygas_? he wondered. _Did he just say Giygas? That's impossible. Giygas is dead. We killed him_.

Jeff did not have much time to dwell on what the unknown voice had said, for two soldiers emerged from the stairwell and upon seeing Jeff, opened fire with their assault rifles. Jeff quickly ducked behind a door and returned fire, snapping off a volley of shots from his Energy Rifle as he ducked behind the door. Distinct high-to-low pitch whines sounded as scarlet pulses of energy erupted from the barrel of his Energy Rifle. The pulses were far more powerful than the pulses of his laser pistol and they quickly burned through the armor and flesh of the soldiers that had fired at him. The two soldiers uttered short cries as the energy pulses burned through their torsos and they fell to the ground, dead.

Just as Jeff ducked back into the reactor room, Flint looked up from his console. Jeff noticed that the reactor was online and he could see the glow of the energy erupting from the fusion of deuterium atoms inside the magnetic bottle. "Alright, the ship's online. Now all we have to do is get to the bridge."

It was not long before they heard an alarm klaxon blaring and a female voice sounding over the loudspeakers, "Warning, unauthorized personnel detected onboard the White Ship. Initiating emergency lockdown of Sectors Eighteen through Zero Nine."

"Tell me we're not in one of those sectors," Jeff begged Flint.

"We're not in one of those sectors," Flint said, responding to Jeff's plea. "However, we are in Sector Zero Eight, we should do our best to reach the bridge now before more areas are locked down."

Jeff did not need Flint to tell him twice. The two of them quickly made their way out of the reactor room and into the corridor. They then dashed over to a stairwell on the other side of the corridor. Upon entering the corridor, they continued their trek up the stairs. Not far above them, Jeff quickly saw a figure dressed in an all too familiar gray suit. A Starman had managed to make its way onto the vessel. And this was no Starman Junior, either. Jeff did not give the Starman time to search for him, for immediately upon sighting the alien he unleashed a hail of energy fire upon the creature. The Starman did not manage to comprehend that he had been under attack for he was dead after the first pulse burned through his torso. The other shots had merely been overkill. The body of the Starman tumbled down the stairs past Flint and Jeff and came to rest on a landing below them. The two of them then continued to make their way up the stairs towards the bridge.

On the lower decks, though, a new figure boarded the ship. This figure was a being of tremendous power. At the mere sight of this being, the human soldiers quaked in fear and horror. The alien, a humanoid figure dressed in a silver space suit with spikes on its helmet and shoulders approached the closed blast door. The human soldiers that had managed to blast their way onboard simply stood to one side as the alien approached, expressions of absolute terror etched onto their faces as he passed. The alien paid them no heed. When he was standing next to the blast door, he merely stood still. His visor began to glow and the metallic barrier retracted. In fact, the security systems of the entire ship were now offline and the blast doors were retracting. The human followers of the PSI Aliens, and their Starmen soldiers, charged through the ship at full speed, half hoping to catch up with Flint and Jeff, half wanting to get as far away from this alien. From underneath his visor, the Starman Deluxe smirked. They were so foolish. The Starman Deluxe did not need their help at all. He did not even consider these human "soldiers" to be soldiers at all. After all, they had previously been thieves, murders, rapists, assassins, drug dealers, etcetera. Their lives were meaningless to him and his master. Soon, he would destroy this ship, and everyone on it, "friend" and foe alike.

Deeper inside the ship, Flint and Jeff raced towards the bridge. They had encountered two Mooks and a Starman Super on their way. All three of the alien enemies fell amid a hail of energy fire from the Energy Rifles of Flint and Jeff. Once that threat had been neutralized, the two continued towards the bridge of the ship, which was on the very top level. Soon, they reached Deck Two. The bridge was one deck above. As they emerged from the stairwell, they were greeted by a squad of four enemy soldiers. The soldiers were dressed in military uniforms but Jeff could see an emblem on their chests that did not belong to any country that he knew of. This emblem, an upside down triangle, with two rectangles arranged vertically, with a square just left of the upper rectangle from the wearer's perspective, was all too familiar to Jeff. It was the emblem that the Starmen wore on their uniforms. The emblem was black, which Jeff took to signify that the wearers were low-ranking members of the PSI Alien army. Jeff grimaced. Already, more humans had sold their souls to the PSI Aliens to try to escape the potential devastation, or on the promise of greater power. Jeff felt no sympathy or even empathy for these people. Unlike people who were mind-controlled, he was almost certain, as evidenced by the grins on their faces at the sight of their quarry, that they were completely willing in their service. That made killing them outright easy for Jeff. Still, the human soldiers had the advantage since Jeff and Flint were not expecting to see them just before reaching the bridge. They leveled their assault rifles at the child and his companion and opened fire.

Flint and Jeff ducked back behind the door while bullets whizzed past their heads. Flint soon emerged from the cover of the metal door and snapped off a couple of shots from his rifle. The shots struck one of the soldiers in the chest, burning two large holes in his body. The soldier fell over, dead, leaving only three soldiers for Flint and Jeff to deal with. Jeff then emerged to take a shot and another soldier. A scarlet pulse of energy erupted from his rifle and felled a second human servant of the PSI Aliens. The two remaining soldiers then ducked behind a wooden crate in the middle of the floor for cover, knowing that their two opponents had experience with the guns that they were using. However, the crate was not sufficient to cover the soldiers from the energy fire of Flint and Jeff's rifles. They set their Energy Rifles to full auto fire and unleashed their fury against the crates. Scarlet energy pulses blew through the crates as if they were made of tissue paper. It was not long before Flint and Jeff heard the two soldiers fall to the floor. After a few moments, Flint and Jeff emerged from cover and made their way past the dead enemy soldiers and to the staircase that led to the bridge.

Upon setting foot on the bridge, Flint and Jeff immediately searched for the tactical and the navigation consoles. That was easier than it normally would have been since the bridge of the ship had a layout similar to the bridge of numerous science fiction starships, particularly from _Star Trek_. Since Jeff had often watched the various _Star Trek_ series and movies, he was quickly able to find the navigation console a few meters in the front and to the left of a trio of plush seats that he took for being the Captain's chair. When he arrived at the console, he turned back towards Flint, who now occupied the tactical console, for instructions.

Flint quickly called out to Jeff, "Okay, the steering of the ship is done via both manual input as well as by automation. I'll activate the 4th-D Slip to get us away from that large UFO above us."

"What's our destination going to be?" Jeff inquired, wanting to make sure that he knew where they were going to end up.

"We're going back to the base outside of Threed. We should be able to put the ship in the underground hangar. That should keep it out of sight for anyone until the ship is fully completed."

Satisfied with the answer, Jeff returned his attention to the console. "When I've spooled up the 4th-D Slip Drive, I'll instruct you on how to enter the coordinates. Then, it's just a matter of waiting out the process."

After a few moments, the 4th-D Slip Drive was ready. "4th-D Slip Drive online and spooled up," Flint called out to Jeff. "Set coordinates to…" but before Flint could finish, an explosion rocked the ship. Jeff half expected to see sparks shoot into the air as the ship rocked due to the explosion. While no sparks erupted from any of the consoles, the lights went out right after the explosion sounded. They were now stuck on emergency power. The two then heard a voice laugh.

"Looks like you won't be goin' anywhere, will ya?" came a deep male voice from the rear of the bridge. He then gave off a laugh, mocking the two comrades in arms.

Flint turned around and saw that the bearer of the voice was wearing a military uniform with a PSI Alien insignia. The man pointed an assault rifle at the head of Flint. "Don't even think about it," the man snapped with scorn, noticing Flint preparing to go for his sidearm. The soldier grinned. "Looks like I'm gonna get a nice reward from the PSI Aliens, after all. After all, without that 4th-D Slip Drive, you can't phase to whatever universe you'd phase to in order to escape us." He soon gave off an evil laugh. His victory was all but assured.

What the traitorous soldier did not realize was that by focusing only on Flint, Jeff had managed to find cover and draw his Baddest Beam gun without drawing attention to himself. Now, he was lining the sight of his pistol on the soldier's head. With a single pull of the trigger, Jeff burned a hole in the head of the traitor to humanity and ended his threat permanently. Jeff quickly made his way to the tactical station and took a look at its display. The display showed that the 4th-D Slip Drive had been destroyed by an explosion inside the ship. It was likely that the ship had been infiltrated by whatever mercenary or terrorist organization had now cast its lot in with the PSI Aliens and detonated the 4th-D Slip Drive. That was not the worst of it, though. The display also read that the containment system for the fusion reactor was offline and much of the room had suffered damage. With the containment system offline, the reactor automatically shut down in order to prevent an explosion that would have annihilated the ship, and likely the surrounding area as well.

"We're out of luck, Jeff," Flint told him after checking the display on internal sensors. "The reactor's been shut down and we can't get back the containment system back on line in order to restart it. The ship's nothing but dead weight now."

"Soon it will be nothing at all," a sinister mechanical voice came from the stairwell.

Flint and Jeff turned and found the Starman Deluxe staring at them. "This ship is the White Ship, and its destruction is the will of Master Giygas. You cannot stop us Jeff Andonuts, ally of Ness, Paula Polestar, and Prince Poo formerly of Dalaam." Turning to Flint, he the spoke again. "And you are Lieutenant Flint Sanders, a pilot in the United States Air Force. Your commanding officer is General Scamp. You are married to a human woman named Hinawa.

Jeff's eyes went wide in shock. This alien had just scanned both Flint and Jeff despite the fact that Jeff had the Counter Telepathy Helmet on. The Starman Deluxe then telekinetically lifted the helmet off of Jeff's head. An invisible hand then reached out and crushed the metallic helmet. The crumpled form of the helmet then fell to the floor. Flint quickly grabbed his Energy Rifle and opened fire on the alien. Jeff also joined in, firing off a volley of energy fire at the alien from his rifle. The pulses of scarlet energy harmlessly bounced off the shield that the alien had erected. "There is nothing you can do to defeat me," the Starman told them. "Without the others of the Chosen Four or your stronger weapons to assist you, you lack the ability to defeat me before I kill you."

Jeff's heart was pounding now. The Starman Deluxe was right. There was nothing the two of them could do to stop him at the moment. They just did not have the necessary firepower to do so. It did not help that this Starman Deluxe seemed to be stronger than the Starman Deluxe that Jeff and the others had encountered during the War Against Giygas. It was not long before a Starman in a yellow suit, which Jeff recognized as a Starman Super, approached the Starman Deluxe and said, "Sir, the assault ship is ready to destroy this vessel."

The Starman Deluxe turned to his subordinate and said, "Tell them to assemble a strike force and go to these coordinates now. I will destroy this ship myself. You lead the attack on the base."

"Understood," The alien said as it saluted and then disappeared into thin air.

The Starman Deluxe then turned to face the two human opponents in front of him. It was then that Jeff and Flint each grabbed one of their grenades and tossed them at the Starman Deluxe. The Starman reached out with his mind and stopped the grenades mid-flight and brought them close to his face, until his visor was merely millimeters away from the grenades. The two humans quickly dove behind the tactical console to escape the blast of the grenades. After a few seconds the grenades exploded. Both Jeff and Flint emerged from their cover to see the result. The cloud of smoke still obscured the image of the alien. Just then, the cloud of smoke parted, revealing the alien, who was completely unharmed.

"Oh no," Jeff stammered in horror.

"Those grenades didn't even phase him," Flint managed to say, agreeing with Jeff.

The Starman Deluxe slowly approached the two humans. "If you join with us, Master Giygas can assure your survival when the rest of humanity is destroyed. Not only you, but your pregnant wife as well. Master Giygas has authorized me to make this invitation to the two of you since you have fought bravely and are a credit to your species."

"Not a chance!" Jeff roared in response.

"We would rather die than betray our own species like those humans who serve you," Flint agreed. "We will not betray our friends and loved ones."

"Then you will die," the Starman said coldly, and somewhat mechanically. Jeff noted that there was no arrogance in that statement at all, which surprised him somewhat.

After a few seconds, a few human servants of the PSI Aliens appeared behind him. These were dressed in rags. Apparently, they were not the PSI Aliens' first line troops. "The ship's reactor had been destroyed, sir," the first person that had appeared behind the Starman Deluxe.

While the Starman Deluxe had turned to face his cohorts, Jeff and Flint took this opportunity to flee. Jeff tried to keep his mind blank in order to keep the Starman from noticing their escape, but inwardly, he figured that psychic alien knew that they were running away. They knew that they had no chance trying to flee through the ship, it was probably crawling with Starmen and human servants of the PSI Aliens anyway, so they went the only place that was still available to them, up. Jeff and Flint fled the bridge and went out onto the observation deck.

Outside, they found two Fighter UFOs flying high above the White Ship. They also saw the large UFO leaving in the general direction of the Air Force base outside of Threed. The two humans knew that they had a chance, now. Flint turned to Jeff and asked, "Jeff, can you fly one of those things?"

Jeff had dreaded that question. His response was, "Yes, I can fly it, but don't expect me to be able to land that thing intact. My last attempts at flying were less than successful when it came to landing the craft."

"As long as we can walk away from the landing, I'll call it successful," Flint said quickly, satisfied.

The two of them then climbed to the top external deck of the White Ship in order to get close to one of the UFOs in order to commandeer it. As they reached the top, the Starman Deluxe appeared directly in front of them. Flint and Jeff quickly took aim with their Energy Rifles and opened fire on the alien. As expected, the energy fire splashed harmlessly against the Starman's shield. The Starman Deluxe then stretched out his hand and the rifles then flew from the hands of the two humans.

While the Starman had been occupied stripping them of their weapons, though, Flint and Jeff threw their flashbangs towards the alien. The Starman Deluxe noticed the bombs and he raised a shield in order to protect him from their detonations. However, it was apparent that he had not taken the time to scan either of the humans. The bombs struck his shield and exploded. Jeff and Flint had immediately covered their ears and closed their eyes just as they threw their flashbangs. The explosions blinded the Starman and disoriented him for a few seconds. Those few seconds were all that they needed to jump to one of the UFOs that had come down to try to assist the stunned alien. Jeff had been tempted to shoot the Starman with his Baddest Beam gun, but he suspected that the alien's shield would still be active, even if he had been disoriented by the bombs. They quickly jumped on the UFO that had edged too close to the ship's hull. Once onboard the ship, Jeff pulled out his Baddest Beam gun and shot the control panel to the hatch. The hatch immediately opened and they made their way into the UFO.

Inside the UFO, the two humans were met by two Starmen. Flint drew his Baddest Beam gun while Jeff had already leveled his gun at the lead Starmen. Jeff pulled the trigger and a scarlet bolt of energy erupted from the Baddest Beam gun. That bolt of energy burned a hole into the Starman's head and the alien fell over. Flint then dispatched his Starman in a similar fashion before it managed to respond to what was happening.

After the brief skirmish, the two of them went to the controls of the UFO. They were both surprised at how simple the control scheme appeared. Even though the controls were written in an alien language, they were surprisingly easy to understand. The acceleration and braking were controlled by two pedals, much like a car's acceleration and braking, and the steering and ascent were controlled by a joystick. This was similar to an arcade game. It was not long before Jeff and Flint were able to control the UFO without any difficulty. They then rose away from the White Ship and headed back towards the air base at their maximum speed. Jeff guessed that it would take a few hours to get back to the air base.

Back on the White Ship, the Starman Deluxe had already recovered his sight and from his disorientation by the time Jeff and Flint had managed to flee onboard the UFO. He gazed upwards and saw one of the UFOs streaking towards the military base. He did not need his psychic abilities to know that Jeff and his friend were on that UFO. The entire attack with those flash bombs had been nothing more than a decoy. He had underestimated them. He scowled. It was not the first time he had made such a mistake. It had not even been the second. He needed to make sure, though, that it would be the last. He turned and he soon noticed the Starman Super in charge of the human allies.

"Sir, we have lost contact with Battle Saucer TSR-493," the Starman Super said, stating the obvious. "Shall we pursue?"

"Negative," the Starman Deluxe responded. "There is nothing that they can do to us in the long term. Even if the peace process goes forward as planned and is successful, they will still not be strong enough to defeat us."

"Understood, sir."

"Go to the Command Saucer, and lead the attack on the base. I will join you shortly."

"Yes sir." The Starman Super the teleported away.

When the Starman Super had teleported away from the ship, the Starman Deluxe teleported onto a recently arrived Fighter UFO. After he appeared onboard the UFO, it began to rise into the air. As it was rising, several of the human soldiers that were loyal to the PSI Aliens had found their way onto the top deck of the ship and looked up. The Starman Deluxe stared down at them. He never liked traitors. Traitors were scum, in his mind, and they had betrayed their people for selfish reasons. These human collaborators were no different. They were not even soldiers, they were criminals: thieves, murderers, rapists, pedophilic rapists and child murderers, prostitutes. For the first time, he began to understand Master Giygas's hatred of these traitors, which could not be said about the rest of humanity. Almost all of the Human Army Against Humanity (HAAH) consisted of the dregs of society. His master felt indifferent about the rest of humanity. Destroying them was merely his duty, no more, no less, and he did not take any pleasure in the annihilation of entire species. It was merely his duty to carry out his race's mandate, the destruction of all who may one day grow strong enough to challenge the PSI Lords. And it was the Starman Deluxe's duty to obey the leader of the PSI Lords, Giegue.

Staring down at the humans, he smiled for the first time. Killing these humans _was_ something that he would enjoy. He soon cried out, PSI Starstorm!"

Just then, blue orbs of light began to rain down on the White Ship and the surrounding area. The HAAH soldiers on the deck of the White Ship cried out in terror. "Wait, Master! Don't do it, please! You'll kill us too!"

"I cannot comply with your request," the Starman Deluxe said mechanically. However, a hint of satisfaction could be heard in his voice. He could hear the physical screams of pain and betrayal of all of the HAAH soldiers as they were annihilated by the stars striking the ship. He could also hear the cries of the HAAH soldiers that were still onboard the ship as the stars plowed their way through the hull and vaporized the remaining HAAH soldiers still onboard. It was not long before the rest of the Starstorm barrage reduced the White Ship to a smoldering wreck. The Starman took one final glance towards the wreckage of the ship. Satisfied that the ship had been destroyed, and that the HAAH soldiers had also been killed, the Starman Deluxe then teleported away in order to accomplish his next mission, the destruction of Threed's airbase since that was said to be the location of the peace process the next day. Not only that, one of the key signatories was stationed there, General Scamp.

Flint and Jeff's journey back to the Threed Air Base was uneventful. It lasted a few hours, rather than the single hour that it took to reach the White Ship. Jeff had looked back at the White Ship as the Starman Deluxe destroyed it. Jeff could have sworn that he saw human shapes on the ship before its destruction. He did not care, though. Anyone who sold their soul to the PSI Aliens in order to survive or gain power deserved whatever they got. Jeff soon took a quick nap to try to regain his strength so that he would not be exhausted when he and Flint entered the battle. The fact that the large saucer was headed towards the airbase meant that that was the Aliens' next target. After a couple of hours, he relieved Flint of flying duty and allowed the pilot to take a nap of his own.

Flint awoke to the sound of a siren. This alerted them of the presence of other UFOs. The two of them soon looked out the window and the scene before them shocked them. The base was under attack. Green energy pulses were raining down upon the base, fired by UFOs of various sizes, destroying few remaining grounded aircraft at the base. The rest of the fighter aircraft were engaged in dogfights with the UFOs attacking the base. However, there were too many UFOs coming in. For every UFO that was shot down, three more came to take its place. It was time for them to help even out the odds.

Jeff quickly manned the weapons console and deployed the Fighter UFOs cannon. He targeted the nearest UFO and once it was in his crosshairs, he fired. The green pulse of energy struck the opposing Fighter UFO and bored a hole through the center of the alien craft. A secondary explosion rocked the saucer and it began to fall to the ground, smoke trailing the stricken craft. The craft struck the ground and promptly shattered. Flint then turned the UFO and flew towards the main hangar of the base. Floating above the center tower of the base was none other than Giygas. It was not long before a voice crackled in over the radio of the UFO.

"Unidentified friendly UFO, thanks for the assistance. Please identify yourself immediately." Flint recognized the voice as belonging to General Scamp.

Flint activated the communicator and said, "This is Lieutenant Flint Sanders, United States Air Force, Special Service Number Zero, Niner, Alpha, Echo, Delta."

"Confirmed, Lieutenant Sanders. I have ordered an evacuation of the Threed Airbase. You are to cover the evacuation of the airbase personnel immediately. Once they are clear of this base, go to the secondary fallback point in Onett. There, you are to assume guard duty as the peace conference will begin tomorrow at Zero Nine Hundred hours."

"But what about you, sir?" Flint spoke into the radio, suspecting that the general had some final plan to ensure their evacuation.

"I'm going to remain behind. You cover the evacuees. I'll lure their forces in and deal with them myself. Hurry, the planes are already leaving."

Sure enough, Flint saw several C-5 Galaxies and C-130 Hercules planes emerging from the main hangar. There were enough planes to evacuate all of the base's personnel. The planes, however, would not assemble at any one base. Once they were safely away, they would split up and land at various airbases, and the personnel onboard would be pumped for information about this new enemy. Flint then heard the radio crackle once more, "It has been an honor to serve with you, Lieutenant," General Scamp said in a somber tone. Flint could hear the voice straining as he said those worlds. It took him a few moments to be able to muster his final response.

"It has been an honor to serve with you too, General," Flint eventually responded, blinking back tears, his emotion evident in his voice.

With that, Flint took his UFO to the main hangar and fired into a crowd of enemy UFOs that were targeting the C-5s and the C-130s that were taking off. Several UFOs were struck with debilitating blasts of energy and crashed into he ground, no longer able to stay aloft. As the cargo planes took off, the surviving fighters, mainly F-24 Wraiths and a few F-28 Phantasms, provided cover for the planes, shooting down any UFO that dared to get too close to the planes, as well as providing a screen for the cargo planes. The UFOs fired their energy cannons into the fighter screen and managed to score a few hits, taking down a few of the fighters as a result, before being shot down by the remaining fighters. One thing that stood out to Flint, not only in this battle, but also in the Battle for the White Ship, was the fact that human fighters seemed to consistently outperform their alien counterparts whenever they engaged in an air battle. The aliens needed to have numerical superiority in order to have a chance. Glancing down at the wreckage and alien bodies strewn about the grounds of the air base, it was obvious that the PSI Aliens had taken severe casualties in the taking of the base. And the battle was not yet complete. Flint continued to fly cover for the cargo planes until they were a safe distance away. Once they were safely away, the cargo planes split apart and made their way to their various destinations, with the surviving fighters breaking off into squadrons and escorting the fleeing troops.

Back at the air base, General Scamp stood in the control center of the base. He had set the nuclear bomb that had been situated in the center of the base to go off twenty minutes after it had been activated. It had required the presence of a senior officer, in this case Major Labs, to activate. However, once he had activated it, he locked himself out of the system. One thing he had learned fairly quickly was the fact that many of these aliens were psychic and could read minds. He wanted to make sure that even if they could read or control his mind, it would not matter. Nothing that he, or they, could do would allow them to disarm the nuke at the center of the base. He would die, and take their entire force with them. He then heard a sound behind him.

He turned around and there he stood face to face with the leader of the alien assault, the Starman Deluxe. Behind the Starman Deluxe stood two Starman Supers. "I guess I won't be greeted by your masters, then," Scamp noted, suspecting that the Starmen in front of him were only servants of the true enemy."

"Master Giygas has commanded me to destroy this base," the Starman replied. "I shall carry out that order to the fullest of my capacity."

General Scamp then smiled. "Allow me to be of assistance in that," he said as he looked at his watch. Time was up. The nuclear bomb that had been planted at the center of the base detonated. The Starmen were seemingly too late in comprehending what Scamp had meant by his words and they were all apparently vaporized in the ensuing explosion.

In orbit, over the Earth, a large alien starship hovered, looking down upon the planet. It was on the bridge of that starship that Giygas stood, awaiting report of the result of the attack on both the White Ship, as well as the site of the peace process. Standing next to him was the ship's executive officer, a Starman Deluxe. It was not long before a report came in. Giygas read the report, as did his first officer. Giygas gritted his teeth. The attacks had been costly. While the loss of almost all of the HAAH soldiers was nothing important to him, the fact that he had lost a large number of Starmen in the destruction of the base was. The Starman Deluxe to his right then turned to him and asked, "What are your orders, Master? Should I take a team down to ensure that the peace process fails?"

Giygas mulled over what to do. It would be easy to send down some forces to take out the delegates, but he already had a squad of Starmen and a couple Starman Supers for the job. Eventually, he made up his mind. "No," he said, turning to the Starman Deluxe. "Take the ship out of orbit and regroup with the rest of the First Strike Fleet. I need to oversee the final engineering and training of the latest generation of Starmen."

"Understood," the Starman Deluxe replied. He then ordered the ship to leave orbit, which it did. He then went over to his master and asked quietly, "Do you think that they'll appear here?"

A serious expression crossed Giygas's face. "I would be a fool to think that they would not." He then focused his attention on the invasion plans of Earth. Even without the Chosen Four, Earth still had a few psychics, and they could cause problems for the current generation of Starmen. The new ones would be infinitely superior to their predecessors. But most important was the fact that should the Chosen Four appear now, they would be in for a few surprises.


	9. Jeff Chapter 5

Legal Disclaimer: In this chapter, characters from the Pokémon are mentioned. The Pokémon series was created by Satoshi Tajiri. I do not own the Pokémon series or any of its characters. Nintendo does.

Jeff – Chapter 5:

The UFO made its way away from the Threed Airbase and headed towards Onett at its top speed. The two of them knew that they had to reach Onett and arrive before the delegates for the peace conference arrived. With the talks beginning tomorrow, they wanted to make sure that everything was in order so that if the worst did happen, they would be ready. Jeff looked back for an instant before he saw a blinding flash of light. He soon witnessed a mushroom cloud rise from where the base had once been. Jeff looked on in sadness as the cloud rose into the air where the Threed Airbase used to be. Jeff said a silent prayer for General Scamp and for anyone else that had still been inside the base when it exploded.

It did not take long for the UFO to reach Onett. Once Jeff laid eyes on the town, he was shocked and horrified at what he saw, for Onett was practically a wasteland. There were a few buildings still standing in the center of the city, but other than that, most of Onett was decimated. The remains of what looked to have once been buildings now lined the streets of Ness's old hometown. The wreckage of tanks, cars, trucks, and even some downed aircraft also littered the streets of the small rural town. _Ness would be reduced to tears if he saw this_, Jeff thought. Still, there was hope in sight, for there were many houses and buildings that were currently under construction, especially up in the hills. At least the town was being rebuilt. Flint looked over to Jeff and said, "Onett was always the secondary location of the peace process should the air base be destroyed. It will take place in the town hall. Our job is to provide security and make sure that no one manages to get in and kill the delegates."

"Right," Jeff said, the shock of seeing most of Onett in such a deplorable state evidence on his face. Still, there was hope for Onett, as evidenced by the ongoing construction of houses and buildings throughout the town.

Flint gently guided the UFO towards a landing zone not too far away from the center of the town, where the town hall was located. Flint managed to land the UFO as if he had been flying such craft for years. The touch down was smooth and gentle, a far cry from Jeff's usual landings. It was at that moment that Jeff envied Flint's piloting ability the most. Had he tried to land the UFO, it would have crashed and if the two of them somehow managed to survive, the alien craft would have still been totaled.

After leaving the UFO, Flint began to make his way to the town hall, followed closely by Jeff. He looked back at Jeff and said, "Thanks for the assistance, Mister Andonuts. However, this is where we must part ways. My orders are to check things out here. You should go over to one of the hotels in the area to rest for the peace process."

Jeff replied, "Thank you, but I'd rather stay and help out here, if I can."

"With all due respect, which is a lot, there is much about this setup that you don't know and I didn't have time to brief you on. It would be best for all involved if you rested up for tomorrow. We'll need to hear your deposition. Your previous experience in fighting the Starmen will be instrumental in helping us devise strategies for fighting them in the future. And should something actually happen, you'll need to be at full strength in order to help fight off any attack or assassination attempt."

Jeff could understand Flint's position. He was kindly trying to tell him that he would more likely than not just be in the way should he be part of the security detail right now. Jeff smiled and thanked Flint before heading off to search for a hotel. Before he found a hotel, he decided that it would be a good idea to stock up on items. He was now empty except for his remaining grenade and his Baddest Beam gun. His initial inventory had been destroyed when the airbase outside of Threed had been destroyed. Fortunately, the layout of downtown Onett was still similar to its layout during the early 2000s. He first went to a department store to buy a new backpack for storing his items. After he had gotten the backpack, he went over to the Burger Shop and went inside. Inside he bought a few Double Burgers and a couple of Protein Drinks. After he was fully stocked, he made his way down to the Onett Hotel.

Once he reached the hotel, he entered and booked a single room. He then went up to the room and entered. The inside of the room was nicely furnished with a bed, table, and sofa. Jeff quickly put down his backpack, got out of his flak jacket and clothes and got into his pajamas. He then jumped into the bed and promptly went to sleep.

The next morning, he awoke at six o'clock in the morning, sharp. He was pleasantly surprised that he had managed to sleep through the night without having any nightmares disturb his sleep. He quickly got out of bed and took ate some breakfast before going to take a shower. He had to be presentable before the delegates at the peace conference. After his shower, he put on his best school uniform and proceeded to leave the hotel after paying at the reception area. The peace process began at Zero Nine Hundred hours, so Jeff still had some time to burn, since it was still eight o'clock. Outside, he could already see that the town hall had practically been transformed into a fortress. Armed military personnel, as well as a couple of tanks and APCs, were stationed outside the hall. Soon, the roar of jet engines sounded in the sky. Looking up, he found several F-28 Phantasms and a flight of two F-24 Wraiths fly over. He also saw several Nighthawks and Firefoxes fly by as well. This was unusual, but Jeff suspected that the delegates wanted to have some of their own security forces with them as well, just in case. Jeff had suspected that there were still feelings of mistrust between the various parties, but the information that he and Flint had on the PSI Aliens should help convince those who still did not trust the others that there was something greater out there, and that these petty squabbles were just that, petty by comparison, especially with the threat that the PSI Aliens posed.

Once he was outside, he began to make his way towards the town hall. As he began to approach the town hall, two military officers stopped him. They were in full battle dress uniforms and were armed with assault rifles that looked to be the replacement for the old M-16 that Jeff was familiar with. "State your identification and show us your pass," the soldiers ordered.

Jeff pulled out his identification card, which also qualified as a pass, and said, "My name is Jeffery Andonuts. I am here to make a deposition to the delegates at this conference."

One of the soldiers took his identification and examined it, closely. He then handed it back to Jeff and nodded to his comrade. They then parted and allowed him to pass and make his way to the town hall. He was stopped twice more. He passed both checkpoints without incident. Soon, he reached the town hall. Standing outside the entrance was Flint and Captain Karim. Jeff went over to the two soldiers and greeted them. Flint and Karim took him aside and asked how he was doing.

"Fine, I guess, given the circumstances," Jeff had told them. "One thing I notice is that security here is quite obvious."

"As it's intended to be," Karim stated. "That will keep people from noticing the less obvious security measures in place."

"You really think that someone is going to attack openly?" Jeff asked. "If I were an assassin, I would try to be as discrete as possible. Any frontal assault would only be a decoy."

"We know," Flint said flatly. "Still, they likely did that because they just want to make sure that someone doesn't actually think that a frontal assault would work on us."

"Still, if this Human Army Against Humanity does launch a strike, I doubt that we could defeat them all," Karim lamented. "Even with the fighters flying overhead, it would not be hard for one of them to plant a bomb, or even a nuke, and get out before it blew, assuming they could get one in the country."

"If the PSI Aliens are helping them, I wouldn't be surprised if they could," Jeff said. "Even without psychic attacks per se, I would not be surprised if the Starmen of all levels had some telepathic capabilities."

Karim smiled. "That's why Samantha and I are out here, too."

"Samantha?" Jeff inquired, wondering what Karim meant.

Karim then pointed to a blond haired woman in her mid thirties standing guard in the garden. "Samantha is like me, a telepath."

"Then you can guarantee that if the H.A.A.H. attacks, that they'll have Starman assistance."

"That's not our primary concern right now," Flint told Jeff.

"Then what is?"

Before Flint answered, Karim looked intently at Flint, as if warning him not to say what he was about to tell Jeff. "He should know," Flint told Karim sternly. "After all, it's the most likely means of attack, assuming they got them."

After a few moments, Karim nodded.

"Know what?" Jeff asked, fearing that things were about to get a little more complicated.

"Remember the bio weapons that I told you about during my talk about this war?"

"Yes," Jeff said, anticipating a small lecture coming.

"Most of these new bioweapons were genetically engineered based upon the DNA of an already existing Earth animal and a recently discovered creature we designated as Mew, due to its feline-like appearance. Mew was found in the ruins of a Mayan temple and is believed to not necessarily be unique. The Mew that we discovered had incredible psychic power, like nothing we have ever seen before. Nothing we had could contain or restrain her. During our unfortunate attempts to contain her, we discovered something amazing. Mew was fully sentient and at least as intelligent as humans. It was not long before she escaped. She had seemingly been toying with us the entire time. However she did not escape before we managed to obtain some of her DNA, a small strand of hair. We did not initially use her DNA to engineer new creatures. We used it to see just how similar it was to other creatures on Earth. We wanted to see if Mew was native to Earth. It turned out that she was. However, Eastern Coalition forces eventually got their hands on Mew's DNA and used it to bioengineer a series of creatures. However, the Eastern Coalition never got a chance to use them. The first batch of new creatures managed to escape before they could be utilized against others and they retreated to a place unknown, until recently."

"How powerful were these creatures?" Jeff asked.

"Not nearly as powerful as Mew," Karim answered for Flint. "But more powerful than normal human soldiers if they're stable. The key to their usefulness would be in using their powers effectively, which required a human to issue orders to them. If their powers are used effectively, they would be significantly stronger than the common rank and file soldier."

"Can we expect to see them here?" Jeff asked, wanting to know the potential for facing off against one of these new creatures.

"It's possible. There have been reports of several new bioengineered creatures appearing as soldiers for some gangs. Gangs wouldn't have the resources to track down and capture such creatures, though. They had to have some help. The one good thing, so to speak, is that the lifeforms that were captured were creatures who were the result of recombining the DNA of both Mew and normal animals. As a result they are only semi-sentient. They likely have a child's level of intelligence or so at most. Several of these creatures have been found allied with various gangs. And if there are any humans that would side with the PSI Aliens, it would be gangs. That's not the greatest worry, though."

"What is?" Jeff asked.

"Our greatest worry is that if the Eastern Coalition was able to engineer animals with special powers, then it is possible that the same engineering could be done to humans. Think of what would happen if some HAAH soldiers were given genetically enhanced powers like psychic power."

Jeff shuddered at the thought. He only hoped that the bioweapons or any enhanced humans were not all that powerful. There was also another problem that came to mind. He did not know what the engineered animals would look like. However, given the general description of these creatures, Jeff hoped that he would know one if he saw one, hopefully before they managed to kill him. After the briefing, Flint began to usher Jeff into the town hall while Karim remained outside to watch and scan for any suspicious activity. Before going in, though, Jeff offered a piece of advice. "Karim, if I were a HAAH or a gang member and I was going to attack and had access to psychic bioweapons or engineered some human psychics I'd use them to interfere with the powers of other psychics in order to covertly launch an attack."

Karim nodded towards Jeff. It was clear by his expression that Karim had considered this tactic, and was quite concerned about its implementation. "Be aware of your surroundings in there Mr. Andonuts," Karim warned him. "You _are_ one of the targets that the enemy is after."

"I'll be careful, Captain," Jeff assured Karim. He then followed Flint into the town hall.

The inside of the town hall was very ornate. Various patterns graced the walls, long chandeliers hung down from the ceiling. The floor was made of marble and Jeff could see the paintings of various influential figures in Onett politics. He could even see a picture of the former Mayor of Onett, B.H. Pirkle. Pirkle may have been a camera hog, but he was not nearly as bad as some, who actually served Giygas and his allies, like Geldegarde Monotoli of Fourside. Even in Monotoli's case, he had still been influenced by the Evil Mani Mani Statue. Still, Jeff was concerned. Since corrupt humans and politicians had served Giygas before, what was to stop other politicians of today from selling their souls for a chance to survive and abandon humanity? Jeff had not taken a good look at the guest list, but he guessed that a lot of the delegates that wanted peace were likely in the military or, oddly enough, newer politicians that may have actually taken the job in order to facilitate peace. War, especially one as large as this one, was still profitable for a number of companies. Jeff soon stopped his musing and quickly went into the main chamber.

Inside the main chamber, the delegates were all seated, with a gaggle of reporters lining the wall. Jeff quickly found a seat near the back for those who would testify before the delegates. Flint found a seat next to Jeff. Jeff did not recognize these delegates, but he could tell that they were from all three of the major factions of the war, and there were a few from what Jeff guessed were South America and Africa as well. Not only that, but several of them appeared to be in the various militaries of their respective factions. Promptly at nine, the conference began.

The first half hour of the meeting was not very exciting. Still, Jeff paid attention to everything that was said by the various delegates. He found that support for the continuation of the war was quickly dwindling, even among the arms makers and suppliers. The one-point-six billion people who had already died was the main reason why people wanted this war to end and whenever someone had voiced a complaint that could set back negotiations or threatened to escalate the fighting, that number was shoved in their face. Still, there was a lot of resentment between the three main parties and several other representatives from Africa and South America. The thing that stunned Jeff was that African and South American delegates were arguing with delegates from their own continents, and sometimes even from within their own country. It was not long before the issue of the PSI Aliens, their human allies, and the destruction of the White Ship was brought before the delegates. An hour into the meeting, both Flint and Jeff were simultaneously called up to stand before the delegates to give their testimony of what happened.

They approached the podium and when they arrived, the questioning began. They both answered the questions to the best of their abilities. Jeff had made sure to include the fact that Starmen had led the HAAH soldiers during the battle and that HAAH had members from all three main factions in this war. They were grilled about their experiences in the fights against the Starmen and the UFOs, particularly about the tactics that were employed and how their craft performed in combat compared to human fighter aircraft. They answered each question honestly and did not embellish their story. Some of the delegates even smiled as they heard the kill ratios. However, Senator Richardson had been quick to inform them that the White Ship had still been destroyed, as had the Threed Airbase. Kill ratios meant nothing if the enemy still accomplished his objective. The delegates then asked Jeff about his prior experiences against the Starmen. He told them about the War Against Giygas and that Giygas may have still been alive, in one form or another.

Outside, during the deposition, the time was coming when the attack would begin in earnest. Standing on a building not too far away was a young African American, about twenty one or twenty two, though he looked noticeably younger. Standing next to a gang member with a Starman insignia scrawled across his shirt, an unknown humanoid creature with golden skin, wearing metal armor and clothing, waited for the time to be right. It's face looked almost feline-like, though it also had the attributes of other animals. "It's almost time," the gang member said. "You know what to do."

The being responded with a deep growl, nodding towards his current temporary master. With that, the creature disappeared.

However, the creature had made a grave oversight in not scanning the mind of its new trainer, for soon, the gang member pushed a button on his watch and spoke into it. "You were right, Captain Karim. They are using bioengineered psychic lifeforms to jam you guys. Chances are these lifeforms are based on alien DNA, in addition to Mew's own. Be on the lookout, though. If the attack inside is a failure, they'll still use the tried and true frontal assault."

"We'll be there to stop it," Karim's voice crackled in over the radio. "Your work there is done, get out of there now before you're discovered."

"Roger that." With that, the spy left the building to rejoin his true comrades defending the meeting.

On another building not too far away, the psychic bioengineered lifeform appeared next to two Starman Supers. Behind the Starman Supers stood a squad of eight Starmen. Behind them was a small army of gang members of various ethnicities and in various styles of dress. Some wore African tribal clothes, others wore turbans, yet others were clad in more casual American clothing. However, they all had one thing in common, the insignia of the Starmen was stamped across their clothes and was quite visible to whoever saw them. One of the Starman Supers turned to the others and said, "It's time. Begin the primary assault."

Outside the town hall, Karim and the other military security officers watched and waited. Now that he knew that he and the Samantha were being jammed, he could isolate where the jamming was coming from and help their aerial comrades to find it and destroy it. Karim psychically coordinated the defense of the conference, ordering soldiers to good choke points and setting up barricades. However, he knew that the frontal assault was only the decoy. He raised his watch, which was also a communicator, to his mouth and said, "You were right. The frontal assault is only the decoy. When you hear the explosions, be on guard."

A voice, belonging to Flint, responded quietly, "I copy that. I'll tell Jeff and the others. Out."

Karim smiled. If things went right, it would be a very bad day for the Starmen and their human allies. If things went wrong, though, it would be a very different story. He quickly found the location of the base for the invasion. He telepathically relayed this information to an F-24 and its pilot soon acted on it. The Wraith flew towards a building a few miles away, one that was condemned and scheduled for demolition, and unleashed a cruise missile. The missile was powerful enough to destroy the building with a single hit. Karim watched as the building was reduced to rubble in an instant, the top of the building immediately blown to pieces and the rest of the building soon collapsing. He telepathically scanned the area to see if the enemy had survived. He sensed that several signals had vanished before the building had been destroyed, but the vast bulk of the enemy force was now dead. Soon, he saw several missiles streak overhead and head down a street. Off in the distance, he heard several explosions, as well as the shouts of soldiers and the screeching of what sounded like animals. The battle had started. He soon he noticed movement from around the town hall. Several figures had appeared near the hall, survivors of the bombardment of a few seconds ago. A cursory scan showed that they were the Neo-Sharks, a street gang based upon an old street gang from Onett called the Sharks. Their trademark was the wearing of a shark fin on their head or helmet. However, Karim was also quickly able to identify another, and much newer, trademark of the gang: a Starman insignia.

"They're here," he whispered into his watch. "Be ready for anything."

Sure enough, the attack soon began in earnest. Four Starmen and a Starman Super led a group of human soldiers dressed in robes with a checker shaped pattern that were armed with AK-47s. Floating alongside these humans were several creatures that appeared to be from a different world than either the humans or aliens. These creatures were floating pink balls with pockmarks on their bodies. _Monsters_, Karim thought grimly. It was the only name he had for such creatures. Karim guessed that these were some of the bioengineered creatures that he and the others had been briefed on earlier. So far, though, no psychic creatures, psychic humans, or other psychic life forms were assaulting the outside force.

"Be ready, Flint and Mr. Andonuts," Karim warned. "It's likely that any psychic creatures that are serving the enemy are going straight for the delegates."

It was not long before the terrorists began opening fire on the security force outside the town hall. The military forces took refuge behind several barricades and statues. After a few seconds, they quickly returned fire. Two of the terrorists began to fall, as did a Neo Shark. Then, the surviving humans searched for cover from the return fire. Karim took out a grenade and pulled its pin. He then tossed the grenade behind the wreckage of one of the buildings that some of the HAAH soldiers and Neo Sharks were using for cover. The grenade exploded, spraying shrapnel all over the place. Two HAAH soldiers fell to the grenade and a Neo Shark was severely injured, shrapnel embedding itself in his legs and waist. Another volley of fire from the military forces took out even more Neo Sharks, and struck one of the pink balls. The pink ball exploded, killing another two HAAH soldiers. Things were looking grim for the assaulting force.

Back behind enemy lines, a Neo Shark gang member took stock of the situation. Turning to his leader, a big, muscular man, he said, "This is the worst attack I've ever been a part of. Where's out support, man?"

"Shut the hell up and get in there?" the leader roared in response.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" the first gang member retorted. "Goin' out there is suicide! Why don't you tell our Starmen leaders to come and get a piece of the action too?"

"Because I give the orders around here!" the leader roared. "Get in your place and go out there, now!"

"No!"

The conversation, however, would come to an abrupt end as a grenade landed among the Neo Sharks. The Neo Sharks did not notice the grenade until it exploded in their faces, killing all of them. The Starmen then quickly went to take the offensive against the security forces. They fired green beams of energy from their arms as they targeted the soldiers hiding behind cover. Their beams were far more powerful than the stone carvings that the soldiers were hiding behind and the soldiers had to lie flat on the ground in order to avoid being hit. Several beams struck behind the soldiers and large plumes of dirt and stone were thrown into the air. Karim and the others soon targeted the Starmen and the Starman Super and returned fire. The first few bullets merely bounced off of their shields and the Starmen fired back at the soldiers; however, they were unable to fell any of the defending troops. _These guys must be graduates of the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy_, Karim thought sardonically, noting their inability to hit a single defender. Karim and the others merely pumped more lead into the Starmen. Eventually, their shields reached their breaking point and collapsed. After their shields had failed, the Starmen quickly fell amid a hail of gunfire. The Starman Super was not much harder to kill. The fact that he could not raise any normal shields was a great liability in this fight, as he had no real defense against the hail of gunfire that was directed against him. The fact that he could not hit the broad side of a barn did not help things either. It was not long before he also fell to the withering defense mounted by the defending soldiers. After a few more minutes, all of the attackers outside were dead.

Karim then turned towards Samantha, the other telepath and called, "You stay on guard out here. I'm going inside to make sure that no one managed to infiltrate the building during the assault."

"Aye, sir," the woman replied as she turned her focus outward towards any more potential attackers. Meanwhile, Karim ran inside the town hall to make sure that things were okay.

Inside the town hall, during the battle, Flint and Jeff were waiting patiently for the Starmen and their allies to strike. They had heard the explosions outside and had received Karim's warning. They knew that the enemy would strike soon. The delegates were being ushered into their chambers, with several armed soldiers standing guard both inside and outside the chambers for protection.

Before the delegates could be completely evacuated, though, the enemy appeared. Suddenly, standing before the remaining delegates and security forces were four Starmen, a Starman Super, eight Neo Shark gang members, and one bioweapon soldier. Jeff could tell from their glowing eyes that it was psychic. With lightning quick reflexes, Jeff and Flint drew their Baddest Beam guns and opened fire on the Starman Super and his Starman cohorts before either they or the psychic bioweapon could raise a shield over themselves. The beams struck the Starmen and after several hits, the Starmen fell. The Starman Super, however, was still alive, though its suit had several burn marks on it. The other soldiers soon joined in on the action, but their bullets struck a shield that had been erected over the entire enemy army. It was then that Jeff realized that the bioweapon was not just there for fighting purposes, but also for support. Its glowing eyes showing that it had been the one to erect a shield over the enemy army.

The Neo Sharks and the Starman Super took advantage of their opportunity and fired into the crowd of soldiers and delegates. The Sharks were terrible shots and did not manage to hit any of the delegates. Two soldiers were struck by the bullets from their AK-47s, but the body armor that the soldiers had been wearing saved their lives. While they were knocked down by the bullets and likely had several broken ribs, they were still alive, and would remain that way. Flint and Jeff glanced towards one another and nodded. They knew that they needed more firepower, so they did the only thing they could. They each grabbed their remaining grenades and tossed them at the bioweapon. They hoped that by taking out the bioweapon the shield over the rest of the attackers would drop. The grenades landed behind the creature and detonated. Flint and Jeff had taken the shield into account with their grenade toss. The grenades exploded behind the creature and among the other soldiers. The shield absorbed most of the shrapnel, but a few shards managed to get through and strike the bioweapon. One human-shape bioweapon fell to the ground, a piece of metal protruding from his head. The bioweapon's threat was neutralized. That just left the HAAH soldiers, Neo Sharks, and the Starman Super.

Jeff quickly decided that the best chance for success would be to neutralize the two remaining bioweapons. Knowing that the bioweapons were telepathic, he had no problem verbalizing his plan. "Flint, take the remaining HAAH soldiers, I'll take on the bioweapons." Jeff had not been around when Ness defeated the first set of Sharks, though he was present at the destruction and dissolution of the second band of Sharks.

Flint gave a curt nod as he took aim at the few remaining Neo Sharks. A single blast from his Baddest Beam gun was sufficient to fell one of the Neo Sharks. The others quickly dove behind overturned chairs and behind benches while they returned fire. Flint, deftly made his way towards a bench and managed to get behind it without being hit. He quickly took shots at the Neo Sharks whenever they emerged from cover to try to fire at him. He did not notice one of the Neo Sharks joining the Starman Super.

Jeff began his assault on the Starman Super he noticed one of the Neo Sharks joining the Starman. His eyes went wide in shock when he saw the Neo Shark's eyes start to glow. Jeff gasped. "How do you like me now?" the Neo Shark asked condescendingly. "Thanks to the genetic enhancements, I'm now a psychic, and far stronger than that bioweapon that you killed."

Jeff still had a few options, though, especially if the Neo Shark was not as strong as the Starman Super. He pulled out his Baddest Beam gun and targeted the Neo Shark. The first series of beams bounced off of a shield, but Jeff continued firing, forcing the Neo Shark to pour more energy into his shield. With Flint distracting the other soldiers and the Starman Super now nowhere to be found, it was a one-on-one fight, one that Jeff was winning at the moment. The Neo Shark, seeing that he was soon going to be overwhelmed, and that the primary mission of the gang, the assassination of the delegates was going to end in failure, glanced over towards the two other remaining Neo Sharks. The Neo Sharks quickly nodded back towards the Psychic Shark. One of them pulled out a small, spherical device and pressed a button. It was a dead-man's switch. He and the Psychic Shark quickly went to rush towards the delegates, who had filed into their emergency chambers. They knew that they could not kill the delegates, but they still had a plan. The Psychic Shark quickly glanced towards Jeff and used his telekinetic abilities to yank Jeff's Baddest Beam gun out of his hands. Jeff then saw one of the other Neo Sharks rush towards the chamber. While the other remaining Neo Shark and the Psychic Shark faced off against Flint and the others, Captain Karim quickly arrived. Seeing the plan in the mind of the Neo Shark, Karim cried out, "The Shark has a time dilation device! He's going to use it on the delegates!"

It was then that Jeff leapt into action. Flint and the other soldiers quickly turned to face the lone remaining Neo Shark, but they were pulled back into the fight with the Psychic Shark and the other Neo Shark by it. However, altered gang member had not counted on Jeff being a threat to the Neo Shark without his gun. Jeff quickly grabbed a discarded knife from one of the dead Neo Sharks and managed to reach the Neo Shark before he reached the chambers of the delegates. He barreled into the Neo Shark and knocked him away from the delegates' chamber. Unfortunately for the Neo Shark, he had also lost his gun, but not the time dilation device. He quickly realized that he would never survive the fight, so he decided to commit one last act of spite against the people in the chamber. As Jeff rushed to grab the time dilation device in order to try to deactivate it, the Neo Shark dropped the device. Jeff tried to catch the device, but it hit the ground. It was then that to everyone else, the Neo Shark and Jeff froze, Jeff diving for the time dilation device while raising his knife in order to defend himself from any attack the Neo Shark made, and the Neo Shark throwing a punch that was mere inches away from striking Jeff in the face.

Flint and the others saw what had happened when Jeff and the Neo Shark froze. Flint was about to run to assist Jeff when Karim called him off. "No," he shouted. "If you go in there, you'll only be frozen in time as well. The area of effect radius is three meters from the device." He then paused for a moment then, noticing the Psychic Shark and the other surviving Neo Shark targeting Flint and the other soldiers, cried out, "Behind you!"

Flint and the other soldiers then turned and fired on the Neo Shark and the Psychic. The sheer volume of fire was more than a match for the shield that the genetically altered human had erected. The Psychic Shark and Neo Shark fell amid a hail of gunfire. After a few seconds, the threat was over, and the attack had been stopped. Flint glanced around the room, remembering the Starman Super. "Where's the Starman Super?" he called out to Karim and the others.

The group looked around. Karim's eyes glowed for a few moments before he reported back, "I'm not sensing anyone else except us Flint."

That answer gave Flint no comfort. Still, there was little he could do right now. He then informed the delegates that it was safe to return.

It was not long before the delegates came back out into the hall to resume negotiations. They saw the scene of dead Neo Sharks, the bioweapon, and Starmen on the floor, as well as Jeff and the Neo Shark, each about to strike the other while Jeff dove for the time dilation device on the ground. Karim warned the delegates against approaching them, telling them about the device. After they had taken their seats, they were about to resume negotiations when Flint rose before them. This action surprised them and one of them asked, "What is it, Lieutenant Sanders? Is there something else you wish to add to your deposition?"

"No," Flint replied. "Not to my deposition. But I do want to honor one who is lost to us, for a time. While you were filing in, Karim told me that he managed to glean the function of the time dilation device. It slows down time for whoever is in the field. According to Karim's calculations, it is likely that should Jeff quickly defeat the Neo Shark and manage to reach and deactivate the time dilation device relatively quickly, three years will have gone by. I wish for him to be known and remembered with honor, for he has fought bravely against incredible odds. He has done far more than an ordinary child ever could, and he did not whine or complain about his mission. He has done so much for us that we don't even know, and for this, he deserves our praise and honor. I request that there be a guard here for his protection. He has helped protect us from our common enemy, the PSI Aliens. It is time for us to return the favor."

It was then that the entire audience and delegation rose and broke out in applause. There they remained, applauding for almost five minutes without stopping. Flint looked at this and thought that it would have brought a tear to Jeff's eye. After the applause had died down and the delegates took their seats, the conference continued in a much more subdued fashion. The delegates and all present had seen a group of soldiers and a child fight for them…no, for the human race. It was their turn to make sure that Jeff's sacrifice was not in vain.

Back onboard his command ship, Giygas read the report that the Starman Deluxe had handed him. The delegation began negotiations anew. He grimaced. This was not what he had hoped would happen. Jeff's sacrifice had galvanized the delegates. He could tell that it was likely that Earth's third world war would end soon. The soldiers had had enough fighting, as did the politicians. Giygas considered what to do next. He could order the few remaining HAAH soldiers to attack the delegates individually, but that would be of little use now. The damage had been done. Any further attack would only galvanize the world's governments further. Now, there were few options left. One would be to cancel the invasion plan. That was out of the question, though. Even with this turn of events, humanity had still been greatly weakened by the previous war. They would be relatively easy to destroy if the fleet had been assembled. But the fleet was not here yet. Only a small task force was currently on approach towards Earth and that would not be nearly enough to take on a planet like Earth.

Another option would be to wait until later to invade. It would allow the fleet to arrive in force. However, that would also allow humanity to begin to repair and rebuild their devastated cities. And facing a united humanity with them being closer to full strength would be costly, especially if they used their psychics effectively. They would still win, but the losses would be greater. There was also the fact that the Starmen had been killed and the bioweapons that they had helped the humans engineer had been destroyed as well. This was along with the retreat of the Starman Super leading the attack. This was both good and bad. It was bad in that may well give the humans hope, so finding human traitors would be more difficult in the short term. However, in the long term, it was of little consequence. He would punish the cowardly Starman Super in due time.

The third option was to go ahead with the invasion now. The Vanguard Fleet was already beginning to arrive. Still, he had to ask what Giegue would want.

Giygas then glanced towards his communications officer, a Starman Super and ordered, "Open a channel to the Mother Ship."

"Yes, Master."

The officer opened the channel. Giygas stared down at a circular platform and a figure of his own species, shrouded by shadow sprang into existence. Giygas then spoke. "The plan to keep humanity fighting amongst itself has failed. In fact, they are even more united now than they might have been without our interference. I believe, however, that it would still be best to begin the invasion now, once the Vanguard Fleet arrives. That way, we can still catch humanity while it is still reeling from their last great war."

"I'm not so sure," the figure countered sagely. "The humans likely still have a large number of nuclear weapons at their disposal, and a noticeable number of them can both reach Earth's orbit and damage our ships once we achieve orbit. Wait for a while before launching the invasion. I suggest hiding near the moon. Send down a few agents, of course, to scout the world and give you precise primary and secondary targets, but still, wait to launch the real attack. We need to do this properly so that humanity's response won't put us in jeopardy. We are so few in number that any mistakes could doom us all."

"I understand," Giygas responded. He then gave a bow and the channel was closed, the hologram of Giegue vanished.

Giygas then turned to the Starman Deluxe, who nodded in return. "Open a broadband channel to the Vanguard Fleet," Giygas commanded.

The officer responded and soon, the channel was open. Giygas then said, "Retreat to the far side of the moon in the shadow of Earth. There, we will wait until we get the necessary information for the invasion to begin." The channel then closed. Giygas had no intention of waiting, as Giegue suggested. While it was unusual for Giegue to be the patient one, he knew why Giegue wanted to wait. He wanted to do a lot of the killing himself, not let Giygas hog all the glory. While the wait would allow humanity time to dismantle its nuclear weapons, it could also allow them to build more. And he had a feeling that humanity would likely either build more nuclear weapons, modify its current arsenal so that the nuclear weapons would be able to achieve orbit and/or even be able to escape Earth's orbit. The reason humanity was united was because it perceived a clear and present threat to the entire world, one that a human child had practically sacrificed his life to fight against. He felt it best to strike now while humanity was still wounded and vulnerable. Maybe, if a miracle occurred, there would only be a handful of human psychics still alive and he could take them out quickly, and thus, the annihilation of humanity could be averted. He did not want to plan on that being the case, though. And even if there were, he knew first hand just how powerful human psychics could become. Ness and his friends had shown him that decades ago. He thought that it would be best to have a small presence down on the Earth in order to oversee things until the rest of the fleet arrived over Earth.

Giygas's musing was interrupted when the Starman Deluxe, his executive officer, raised his arm and exclaimed, "I volunteer, Master."

"Good," Giygas said, turning to him. "I suggest you go to the Stonehenge Base in Winters that was set up by the soldiers of the Universal Cosmic Destroyer in the 1990s by Earth's reckoning. There we can have a force on the ground in a pre-fabricated base that won't be detected by the humans until it's too late."

"Yes, Master," the Starman Deluxe replied.

"One more thing," Giygas added.

"What is it?"

"I want you to also go to Onett and get the Chosen Four member Jeff Andonuts, take him to Stonehenge Base, and place him in stasis. I am expecting the rest of the Chosen Four to search for him and that will be the perfect location for us to spring our trap and get rid of them once and for all. Also, scan the human general you placed in stasis in Stonehenge Base. He was a friend of a confirmed human psychic. He may have knowledge of other human psychics. We must find them. I have a use for them."

"I understand, Master," the Starman Deluxe replied. Giygas could almost detect that the Starman was smiling beneath his helmet and visor. The Starman Deluxe then left the bridge to carry out his mission. Giygas then knew that it would not be long before it was time to begin the invasion. So much work had been done. So much planning had been put into this moment. It was finally about to come to fruition. It would not be long before the invasion of humanity in earnest had begun.


	10. Ness Chapter 1

Ness – Chapter 1:

Ness suddenly found himself standing inside a room with metallic plates lining the walls. The hum and clanking of machinery reverberated all throughout the room. As he looked around, though, he found that something did not seem right. The lights and layout of the area looked like it was from the set of an old science fiction movie out of the 1930s or 1940s, except that it was in full color. Ness began to wonder how he had arrived here. The last thing he remembered was being in Onett fighting off some aliens. Their leader had emerged from a large UFO, and soon retreated. He had wanted to attack the leader, but Poo had warned him against it. Then, a beam was unleashed upon the party, and house, and a green wave of energy washed over him. Then he found himself here, in this area, wherever that was. He first wondered if he was dead. He quickly pinched himself on the cheek. The jolt of pain answered his question; he was still alive.

Next, he wondered what had become of his friends and family, as well as everyone else at the party. Looking around the room, he found that he was alone. It was now that he wished that he had the telepathic abilities of Paula, or the energy sensing capacity of Poo. After a moment of pondering his situation, he knew that he would not gain anything by just standing around. Glancing about the room, he found that it was completely empty. He had surmised that it was a storeroom of some sort. He quickly searched for an exit to the room. He quickly found one in the form of what looked to be an elevator, which surprised him. He approached the door and, seeing a keypad next to the door, pushed the button, calling the elevator. Ness waited for a few second for it to arrive. When it did, the door slid open and Ness boarded the elevator. As the doors slid to a close, Ness noticed that there were no buttons on the elevator except for an emergency stop button. Still, he rode the elevator to its destination. When the doors slid open once more, he exited the elevator.

After emerging from the elevator, Ness found himself in a large corridor that went straight in either direction. Glancing down both ends, he found that there was what appeared to be a dead end to his left, so he turned to his right and walked forward. He quickly glanced to either side of the corridor and found that there were few doors. However, he did find a couple large red flashing orbs on the wall of the corridor. He did not know what purpose the lights served. He did not dwell on them. He just looked around the walls some more as he made his way forward. The walls seemed very plain, save for those lights, though there were what looked to be sets of metal pipes lining parts of the wall. Ness began to suspect that he was inside a base of some sort. He quickly checked to make sure that he still had his baseball bat. He did, which was good. He drew it out and carefully scanned his surroundings, making sure to not only rely on sight, but also on sound, touch, and smell. So far, he found nothing threatening, yet. The same hum of machinery still reverberated throughout the corridor. Ness soon found a doorway in front of him. Above the door was a blue glowing sign with a set of symbols on it. Ness could not make out the symbols, but they did not appear to be writing. He approached the door and put his ear up to it. He could not hear anything unusual coming from the other side, so he simply opened the door and walked on through.

He soon found himself in another corridor. This one was just as plain as the last one. Using his psychic abilities to increase his vision, he still found nothing in front of him. But he did find that this corridor was shorter than the last. He glanced back behind him through the open door to see if anyone or anything was following him. Nothing. He then turned back and trekked down this corridor as well. He also began to listen for the sound of voices or unusual noises that would indicate soldiers or robots. Still, there was nothing. He began to wonder if this base, if it was a base, was even inhabited. Ness continued his trek until he found another door. Knowing that there was nothing to lose by going forward, Ness continued through the door.

On the other side of the door, Ness found himself in what could only be described as a room, since the exit was straight ahead of him. This room was also strange in the fact that it was completely unfurnished. Only a set of metal pipes lined the walls. Not only that, but there was no one, human, alien, or robot, present here. Given Ness's past experience with bases with similar layouts, he was surprised that he had not encountered anyone at all. If the beam had been a teleportation beam used to capture him and his friends, which he had been beginning to suspect, but now he was beginning to question, he would have guessed that there would be people, human or alien, or robots around to guard him and keep him incarcerated. So far, there was nothing here. Seeing no other option, besides going back, he decided to move forward. He entered the door and went on to explore the rest of the base.

In the next corridor, Ness found something that shocked him. To his right, he saw a glass window. What was on the other side of the window was water. Fish swam by the window, not paying attention to the young teen staring out into the depths of the water. Ness did not know what type of fish he was seeing, so he did not know if he was underneath the ocean or in a lake or bay of some sort. He began to suspect once more that he was inside some abandoned secret military base. But why he would end up here was beyond him at this point. He merely trudged forward towards the next door and walked on through, hoping to find some answers quickly.

In the next room, Ness merely found a set of pipes lining the wall in a rectangular pattern. This room was also small, its exit clearly visible to the young teen. One thing that he was beginning to notice was that this place seemingly had nothing at all. There was no trash at all. Heck, there were not even any trashcans around. The area seemed to not be in a state of disrepair or show any signs of breaches or cracks, which Ness considered strange for a base that was underwater. If this base had been deserted, it would have to have been abandoned not too long ago. Ness then walked to the door and entered.

Through the next door, Ness found another glass window along the wall. More fish could be seen swimming outside in the water. Ness no longer stopped to look around the room. He simply kept on going through the door and into the next room.

This room was a little different from the previous rooms. Instead of only having gray pipes line the room, there were pipes with a reddish hue lined in patterns along the wall below a series of gray pipes. Ness also saw several sets red lights in this room. If there was something at this base that was important, Ness suspected that he was getting close to it. Still, there seemed to be no security precautions in place besides the fact that it was underwater. Still, Ness could not help but think that the formation what looked to be those reddish pipes were actually holders for something else. He shrugged off the thought and continued on his way. If something were still at this base, he would find it soon enough. And he would be ready for it. With that, Ness moved forward.

The next room was gigantic. Its ceiling was a great deal higher than the ceiling in the previous rooms and Ness noted that there were two large glass windows in this part of the base. It was now that Ness could hear a voice above him. However, he was unable to make out what it was saying. However, Ness was quickly able to identify it as human, and male. Another voice responded to the human voice. The second voice was clearly robotic. Ness quickly scanned the wall to see if there was an alcove. Sure enough, there was an alcove inside the wall a long way up. He soon found a ladder along a section of wall, which was between the two glass windows, that led up to the alcove. Ness did his best to guard his thoughts. He thought about leaving them alone, but he soon figured that there was nothing left to lose by talking to whoever was up there. After all, while it was an extreme long shot, the person up there may have known where Ness's friends were. With that, he approached the ladder and climbed it. Despite it being a high ladder, it did not take Ness long to climb it. Soon, he was at the top.

Inside the alcove, Ness found a human man being flanked by two large robots, with a third inside a smaller alcove. The man seemed to be finishing up the last touches on the robot in the smaller alcove. From what Ness could tell, the man had brown hair, and was rather tall, around six feet, but also looked young, as if he were in his late twenties. Still, he was dwarfed by the robots, both of who looked to be at least twice as tall as he was. One thing that caught Ness's eye was the fact that his clothes seemed to be of a different style from what Ness was used to seeing on adult men. From what Ness saw, the man was wearing a wool sweater with a brown jacket, and brown trousers. The man's style of dress looked like it was from the 1900s or the 1910s rather than the 1990s or 2000s. Ness then looked over to the robots. The robots looked like old stereotypical B-grade sci-fi robots. One was gold with gray arms and legs that seemed to be made of old tin-foil tubes, though Ness suspected that the arms and legs of the robot had to be made of a much tougher material. The head of the robot was oval in shape and it had yellow glowing eyes. Ness also noticed what appeared to be laser cannons on both of its arms. The other robot was identical to the first robot, except for the fact that it was silver. Also, the guns on the arm seemed to be replaced with two mini-missiles per arm. The third robot that the man was working on looked just like the other two, except for the fact that it was blue. Ness was not able to see what armaments the other robot had. One thing was clear, though. These robots could likely hold off a small assault force all by themselves. And that was not counting on the human who had likely built them, for Ness saw a gun holstered at the hip on the human.

The gold robot soon turned and saw Ness standing near the ladder. "Sir," it called out in a monotone mechanical voice. "The intruder has been spotted. What are your orders?"

This got the attention of the other robot and of the human, as well as Ness. _So someone was tracking my movements_, Ness thought. The man turned and was visibly startled to see the human teenage boy with a baseball bat standing before him. He had thought that the silent alarm had merely spotted a rat or something. "Who are you?" the man asked in a confrontational tone. He also assumed a defensive posture.

Seeing that there was no harm in telling him his first name, Ness replied, "I'm Ness." He then proceeded to ask in return, "Who are you?"

The man, knowing that Ness had only given his given name, decided to be cautious since he was still suspicious of Ness. "My name is George," he answered carefully.

He, too, only gave his first name. This did not matter to Ness, though. He was confident that if George tried anything funny that he would be able to defeat him and the robots without too much difficulty. He quickly realized that George was eying him.

"Why can't I see inside him?" Ness caught George mutter to himself. This got Ness's attention rather quickly. At first, he wondered what George meant until he realized that George had been trying to scan him. During the three years between the War Against Giygas and the second invasion of Onett, Paula had been teaching Ness how to protect his mind from cursory scans. Powerful scans would still penetrate his defenses, but it would take a pretty strong psychic to penetrate his mental defenses. Knowing this, he steeled his mind and closed it off further.

Ness's actions did not go unnoticed by George. George still stared at him intently, but was trying to study Ness and figure out who, and maybe _what_, he was. _Is he telepathic_? George wondered. He doubted that Ness was telepathic, for if he was, Ness would have tried to scan him upon realizing that he was trying to scan the teen. But that did not eliminate the possibility of Ness having other abilities. Ness, noticing the robots forming up around George, assumed a defensive stance, holding out his bat as if it were a sword.

The gold robot immediately interpreted Ness's actions as a sign of aggression and before George could call him off, he pointed his two arms at Ness and fired intense green bursts of energy. However, before the robot had managed to fire, Ness raised a Shield Alpha over himself. He did not want to destroy the robots or fight George, merely protect himself. The energy blasts splashed harmlessly against Ness's shield. He returned the favor with a push of telekinetic force. The gold robot soon flew backwards and landed near the wall. However, Ness had been gentle, so the robot sustained nothing more than a few scratches.

George's eyes went wide at Ness's demonstration of telekinesis. George decided to test Ness further. He quickly focused a blast of telekinetic energy and unleashed it against Ness. Ness, knowing that George was powering up an attack of some sort, decided to counter it with a blast of telekinetic energy of his own. The two attacks quickly collided with each other and both opponents now knew that the other was no slouch, and that their respective opponent was holding back a noticeable portion of his power. The waves and particles in the air visibly shifted as the two telekinetic pushes collided with each other. It was not long before the two attacks canceled each other out and pushed back against their respective users. Both Ness and George went flying into the air. George was about to collide with the wall, but the two robots managed to catch him and cushion his impact. George fell to the ground unhurt, as did the robots. Ness, meanwhile flew backwards until he had nearly flown out of the alcove. He landed on his feet a few feet away from the alcove's edge. He then slid to the edge, but he was able to force himself to stop before falling over the edge. Ness quickly rushed towards George, wanting to make sure that he was uninjured, which resulted in the two robots stepping out in front of George. This prompted George to call them off.

"CAIN, ABEL, get back. This boy is non-hostile."

"Are you sure, sir?" the golden robot, who Ness assumed was CAIN, asked.

"If Ness wanted to hurt me, he would have used a lot more power than he did in that telekinetic battle just now." _And he may have even been able to defeat me_, George thought somberly, almost fearfully. Not only that, but from what George had been able to sense of Ness's power in that skirmish, Ness had the potential to be even stronger. He then got up and walked over to Ness, who had stopped a ways away when he realized that George was not hurt. "You are powerful, Ness," George stated matter-of-factly. "How did a child like you get to be so powerful with PSI?" Ness could tell that George was quite curious about Ness's power

"I was born with this power," Ness responded.

"Who taught you how to use it?"

"I realized my power on my own," Ness answered, not hiding his mind. He wanted George to know that he was telling the truth.

This answer stunned George, but upon performing a cursory scan of Ness's mind, he could tell that Ness was telling the truth. _This boy is able to do that without any formal lessons to speak of_? The realization that Ness was a lot more powerful than he had demonstrated just now really struck George. He also wondered just how powerful Ness would be if he had taken formal lessons, or how powerful he would be after taking such lessons. Ness looked around the alcove and stared at the robot that was still in its socket in the wall. George noticed Ness's curiosity about the robot and said, "That robot is named ADAM. I was making some final modifications to him. I have another robot under construction. I'm calling her EVE. She will be the strongest of the robots that I'm building."

"What are they being used for?" Ness asked.

"I am going to use them to help me rescue my wife, Maria," George responded, looking down at the ground somberly, a sad expression crossing his face.

"What happened to Maria?" Ness asked, suspecting that it was something tragic.

"Nine years ago, my wife and I were kidnapped by a race of aliens that call themselves PSI Lords, though, some non-psychic servants merely call them PSI Aliens. Neither is their true name, which even _they_ may have forgotten. They kidnapped my wife and I because we were, at the time, latent psychics. The aliens believed that it was their mandate to prevent the spread of the power known as PSI, or in layman's terms, psychic power, from spreading beyond their race. A long time ago, they believed PSI to be a magical power rather than a hereditary power. Even after they discovered that it was at least partially hereditary, they still sought to keep the spread of psychics to an absolute minimum, with the exception of themselves, of course.

"They would travel throughout the universe, scanning entire species in order to see if they had any of the hereditary aspects of PSI in them. If they did, they would do everything in their power to prevent its activation in that race, even if it meant exterminating the entire target species, which happened quite often. Sometimes, when they exterminated a species, members of a species would sell out their own comrades and compatriots in order to be spared from the destruction. These collaborators with the PSI Aliens would be taken onboard their ships to serve as crew and cannon fodder for invasions of other races. In addition, the Aliens also engineered other species with psychic powers. Starmen and Mooks are just some of the species known."

"Yeah, I've fought them before." Ness interjected.

George raised his eyebrows almost in disbelief. "You've fought the Starmen?"

"Yes," Ness freely stated. "They were led by a creature known as the Universal Cosmic Destroyer Giygas."

"Who is Giygas?" George asked. He could not help but think that Giygas may have actually been someone familiar. And it showed on his face.

"Giygas was psychic alien that had lost his body, and his mind, in an attempt to become the ultimate Embodiment of Evil," Ness explained. He was surprised at how easily he was revealing this information to George. Though, it may have been because they were kindred spirit having had bad experiences with Starmen and their leaders. "My friends and I eventually fought him innumerable years in the past and using the prayers of the people of the Earth, he was defeated and destroyed. His human ally, though, managed to escape. Why? Have you heard of him?"

"No," George said quietly. "I just remembered someone else, an alien. After we were kidnapped, the Aliens forced Maria to care for an infant alien. I always heard them refer to the alien as Giegue, though I could have sworn that he was sometimes referred to as Giygas, mainly by his relatives."

"Why did the aliens want your wife to care for him?"

"I don't know."

"So what did Giegue look like?" Ness asked. He, too, felt like he may have seen Giegue before, especially with the revelation that Starmen served the PSI Aliens, and also the fact that Giegue had also been called Giygas on occasion as well.

"Giegue looked like any other PSI Alien, really," George told him. "They looked like cat-like humanoids. They have relatively long, slender torsos, cat-like ears on the sides of their heads, a single tail, as well as a tube that connects from the neck, down to the base of the back."

A surprised look crossed Ness's face. George took this as a sign that he had encountered these aliens before. "So I guess you've encountered PSI Aliens," he commented.

"Yeah," Ness said in a low voice, confirming George's suspicion. "I've encountered them before. But the one I encountered retreated into his ship before we could fight." That answer caused George to frown. Ness suspected that he had been hoping that Ness had actually fought with one of the aliens.

"So what happened?" George asked.

"After he went into his ship, his ship fired a green beam that struck my house and washed over myself and the rest of my friends and family," Ness told him. "Then I found myself in your lab, near a ladder and elevator."

_So that explains how you wound up in my lab_, George thought. He then stepped back and asked Ness, "Where are you from? I've been searching for any PSI Alien activity on Earth ever since I escaped from the PSI Aliens. I think I would have known if they had come to Earth."

"I'm from Onett," Ness responded. He was not surprised when George did not seem to recognize the name. Onett was pretty far out of the way. "It's town in rural America."

"Just like Podunk," George said, as if finishing Ness's thought. "My hometown." George then thought for a moment before continuing. "It's a ways away from here, though. After I escaped from the aliens, I immediately began a study into their psychic powers, called PSI, as far away from people as possible. The closest town to the mountain that this lake is on is called Ellay. I trained myself in the use of the PSI that I had discovered while in captivity. I also began study into their technology. That is how I was able to escape. The ship that I stole during my escape had an automatic recall device implanted on it. I deactivated the device when I stole the vessel, making it look like it was damaged during the escape. Still, despite my successful escape, Maria did not join me. She elected to stay behind in order to raise Giegue. She wanted to teach him the difference between right and wrong. I think that she is trying to turn him away from the PSI Aliens' mandate to exterminate any psychic race other than themselves.

"When I returned to Earth, I moved away from people in order to keep hidden from any further search parties and cut my ties to any family members in order to protect them from retaliation at the hands of the PSI Aliens. We had been kidnapped not only to raise Giegue, but also in order to prevent the spread of PSI on Earth. I later learned, after some extensive research, that the power of PSI was completely hereditary and had no magical aspects to speak of. That also meant that Maria and I had always been latent psychics. I have kept this research hidden completely so that no one will learn about this. I can't risk the PSI Aliens learning about humanity's psychic potential. I wouldn't be surprised if they planted some spies back here looking for me."

"You sound like you're preparing to go after her," Ness noted.

"I am," George responded. "I had hoped to go after EVE was completed, but that's no longer an option."

"Why not?" Ness asked.

"I had a dream last night," George said in a low voice. "In it, I saw Maria being killed by the aliens after Giegue had celebrated what, in human terms, would be his tenth birthday. I don't know if the dream was a message from Maria or God, but it felt awfully real, and has really worried me. That was why I modified CAIN, ABEL, and ADAM as quickly as I could. I plan on leaving in a couple of hours." He then chuckled. "Maybe I shouldn't read too much into dreams. For all I know, it could be a trick by the Aliens in order for me to return so they can kill me."

"Maybe you should be concerned," Ness told him, thoughtfully. "It may have just been a dream, but it may not have been as well. After all, you're psychic, right? You may be able to receive telepathic messages more easily than others. How powerful of a psychic was Maria?"

"Very," came George's response. "With the training that she has right now, she may be a match for a young PSI Alien. Still, she can't take on their entire race. And the last thing that the PSI Aliens want is for an alien to have the potential to match them in power. That is why I have to get her out of there. If she's as powerful as I think she is, she won't be able to hide her strength forever. And when they see her strength, they'll kill her and likely come to invade Earth before we advance too far."

"Do you think you can do it?" The fact that George was being rushed made Ness wonder if George was taking all contingencies into account. He was also concerned for George's wellbeing.

"Possibly, but a lot of things will have to go right," George replied in a melancholy tone. "If I could have completed EVE before this became essential, then I'd have a better shot at this. Since that's not an option, then I guess I'll just have to hope for a miracle."

"Maybe your miracle has arrived," Ness said with a smile. "I'll help you save Maria."

"What?" George said in shock. "You? Why? I can't ask you to do this!"

"You don't have to," Ness replied almost eagerly.

"I still don't have an escape plan," the older man told Ness. "I plan on reaching the ship by reactivating its automatic recall device. Chances are that they'll scrap the ship once it lands and the others onboard are…" George's eyes began to glimmer with hope as he abandoned his previous line of thought and exclaimed, "Yes! There may be a way for us to escape, possibly even undetected."

"How?" Ness asked excitedly.

"The PSI Aliens aren't just psychics, as evidenced by the fact that they have space travel," George informed Ness. "They are also very technologically advanced as well. They didn't plunder their spacecraft from other aliens that landed on their planet. They developed it on their own. They also have developed other machines, one of which is called a Phase Distorter." That got Ness's attention.

"Did you say a Phase Distorter?"

"Yeah, you've heard of them?" George was beginning to wonder just who Ness really was. The only time he had heard of a Phase Distorter was in the captivity of the PSI Aliens. And even then, theirs had been a prototype.

"Yes," Ness replied. "During the War Against Giygas three years ago, my friends and I used one to go back into the past and defeat Giygas in a place called the Cave of the Past. However, in order to travel using a Phase Distorter, we had to transfer ourselves into robotic bodies."

"That won't be a problem with a PSI Alien Phase Distorter," George replied. Still, he was wondering how Ness knew of the Phase Distorter. It was advanced technology that was far beyond anything humans could develop. "By the way, who built your Phase Distorter?"

"It was a collaborative project between the father of one of my friends, Doctor Andonuts, an inventor named Apple Kid, and a group of beings named Mr. Saturns," Ness explained.

George thought for a moment. None of this made any sense. No human, besides him, had access to this level of technology. He had been away from human contact for a long time, only going out to get food and supplies, and making sure that he developed no contacts in the scientific community. He dreaded what they would do if they discovered that psychics existed in the world. He also had very good security protocols. He had known the moment Ness had appeared inside his lab. The secret cameras would have picked up any intruders. If anyone had entered the lab and tried to steal his research, he would have known about it.

"Just what else has Doctor Andonuts built?" George asked.

"The usual advanced stuff," Ness responded. "Lasers, bazookas, bottle rockets, UFO-like flying craft, and other things."

George then raised his eyebrows. "What is a bazooka?"

This question surprised Ness. "A portable missile launcher," Ness answered. "For someone who is planning on using force and has wrist missiles installed on his robot, I find it surprising that you don't know what a bazooka is."

"Why would I know?" George asked in response. He was surprised at Ness's surprise. "All of the weaponry on my robots is based on PSI Alien technology," he explained again. "I did research for all current military vehicles and weapons, even the recently invented tank."

"Recently invented?" Ness stammered, his eyes wide. "This may sound crazy, but what year is this?"

George almost laughed. "Nineteen eighteen," George responded. "Why? What year did you think it was?"

"Two thousand ex," Ness replied. George's eyes went wide at the revelation. "Well, I guess that explains why you don't know what a bazooka is, or why you were surprised at the fact that I've encountered a Phase Distorter," Ness commented.

"I'm glad that's settled," George almost chuckled. "Now back to our battle plan."

"So you'll accept my help?" Ness said hopeful of getting a chance to help out George.

"Yeah, you can join me," George finally said. "But you'll have to follow my lead."

"That won't be a problem," Ness replied.

"Okay." George answered. "Now, about the plan, the PSI Aliens are nomadic, so they never stay in one place for very long. This means that the automatic recall device on the commandeered UFO is the only way we'll reliably be able to get to them. I also have the correct codes required to get onboard their current flagship undetected. Once onboard the vessel, the Phase Distorter should be in one of the labs if it's still under construction, and in the cargo bay should it be finished. You go search for the Phase Distorter while I'll go and find Maria." Ness was about to argue, pointing out that he would need all the help he could get rescuing Maria should it come to a battle, but George cut him off with a wave of his hand. "No arguments. This is how it must be. I need to be the one to save Maria. I still feel guilty of escaping without her last time, regardless of her wish to remain behind. I must be the one to save her. Besides, should it come down to a battle we don't need the PSI Aliens knowing that there are more human psychics besides myself and Maria. That could result in the PSI Aliens attacking sooner rather than later, and right now, Earth doesn't stand a chance against the PSI Aliens. Besides, if Giegue is stronger than we are, we might need to escape quickly. Not only that, but the PSI Aliens know about me. If it comes down to a fight, they'll be focusing their forces on me. That should leave you enough time to get the Phase Distorter and lock onto my signal to get us out of there."

After the explanation, Ness no longer argued the point. He could easily see where George was coming from. He knew that this Giegue would not likely be alone. If George went to face off against Giegue, it was likely that he would also soon be facing a variety of other enemies: Starmen, Mooks, even other PSI Aliens. "I see," Ness said. "When do we begin?"

"Right now," George replied. "The ship is just below a shed on the mountain upon which this lake is situated. Follow me." With that, Ness proceeded to follow George out of the lab. They were followed by ADAM, CAIN, and ABEL.

In a location at the far end of the universe, a fleet of flying saucers and other ships approached the moon of a planet. The planet was blue and covered in clouds. While there was no distinct sign of land on that planet, but there had once been a civilization on that world long ago. The moon, however, was still inhabited. Instead of the light blue sheen that the planet gave off, the moon was much more green in color. White clouds and areas of blue punctuated the green jewel that was the moon. At the lead of the saucers was an alien starship that looked like it was half starship, half multi-story building. On the bridge of the ship, an elderly PSI Alien looked into the view screen in front of him. They were close to their target. Turning to the Alien manning the helm, he gave his order. "Assume a geosynchronous orbit over the capital city of the moon."

"Yes my lord," the PSI Alien replied. The two aliens were virtually identical to look at to the untrained eye. Both were male, though the captain of the ship was much older than the younger lieutenant manning the helm.

"Tell the rest of the fleet to form up around this ship," the Alien captain ordered. " Also, tell the fleet not to open fire until I give the order. I have something special planned for the people of this moon."

"Understood sir," the younger PSI Alien spoke in reply.

The Alien captain then glanced all around the bridge. He was no mere captain. He was currently the master of the entire PSI Lord species. All in their domain was his to command. He smiled. There were no inferior species on his bridge. The only crewmembers in sight were PSI Lords, just as it should be. While the Starmen, Mooks, and countless other servants each had their uses, none of them could match the might of the PSI Aliens. Now came the difficult part. He had to get his own son to destroy an entire species, something that he had not done before. Not only had the captain's son not destroyed an enemy species before, he had actively refused to do in the past, saying that it was wrong. And his son had not wavered in his position. The Alien leader, Goog, was at his wits end. Ever since his consort had abandoned their child and later died in a battle against the Magic Lords, his son had had no mother. He had brought a woman from a far away planet, just barely an adult, to the ship to raise him, since he was too busy finding other nascent psychic races and exterminating them before they became a threat. It was soon discovered that the woman had psychic power, something her race was not known to have. To make matters worse, his son, the soon to be Giegue, had bonded with the human woman very quickly, viewing her with the same affection that he would show his real mother, had she survived, possibly more since his mother had never loved him, unlike his current adoptive mother. It would be difficult for him to detach himself from his adoptive mother, even though she was of another race, and he was approaching the age of ten. He only hoped that Giygas would accept his birthright and mandate and become a real leader of his people, before it was too late. While his younger brother, Googi, was more than eager to kill, Giygas was more powerful and much smarter than Googi. Googi often took unnecessary risks in order to accomplish his missions. Not only that, despite being younger than Giygas, he was also interested in more physical pursuits than his own psychic studies, unlike Giygas, who was very serious in his studies. Still, his connection to that human woman, Maria, troubled him.

Inside a chamber of the massive starship, a human woman sat by the window. She was dressed in a lovely pink sleeveless gown that covered her from her neck to her feet. She had blond hair and blue eyes, and stood at five feet and eight inches tall. To many humans, she would be considered quite beautiful. And she was quite beautiful to the PSI Alien child sitting by her, though in a much different fashion than what most adult humans or even other PSI Aliens thought. She was quietly singing a lullaby to the young PSI Alien. The child wagged his tail happily as she sang soothingly. He had always loved hearing her beautiful songs. After a while, though, he began to frown. He quickly remembered what his biological father had told him. He looked out at the green moon, which was growing in size in the window. The woman soon stopped her song and glanced down at the alien child. "What is it Giygas?" she asked in a soft, loving voice, noticing his frown. Her concern was evident in her tone.

Giygas did not know what to say. His conversation with his father had been telepathic. He looked through the window once more and replied, "This moon holds people that are said to have psychic power."

"And what has your father ordered you to do?" Maria asked in a sad tone of voice. The young alien boy could tell that she already knew what his orders were.

"My father has told me that I am to be the one to destroy this race."

"And what have these people done to earn the disdain of your father?"

"They live," was the boy's only response, spoken in a melancholy tone. "And they have psychic power. That is all that it takes to give my father reason to hate another species."

"And are you going to destroy them?" the human woman asked.

"I have no choice, Mother," Giygas admitted sadly. "It is my purpose in life. And I do not want to disobey my father. Your own religious commandments command you to honor your parents."

"No, you do have a choice," Maria argued, shaking her head but keeping her voice soft, calm and even. "No one's purpose is specifically to simply kill another. Another of my religion's commandments says 'thou shall not kill'. Anyone who orders you to murder another is not deserving of your obedience, even if that person is your father. Honoring someone and obeying them are two different things."

"My people say otherwise," Giygas countered, not very vehemently.

"Then they're wrong," Maria continued to argue. "Murder, especially when the person, people, or race that is about to die has done nothing wrong, is never right. Never." After a few moments, she looked intently into the young alien's eyes. "Do _you_ wish to do this?"

That question took Giygas off guard. It was the first time he had ever been asked this question. He quickly realized that his answer would decide how things went between he and his mother from here on out. Not knowing what to say, he responded with, "I don't know."

Maria continued to look sad as both she and her adoptive son looked out the window. It was not long before the door to their chamber slid open and two Last Starmen were standing in the doorway. "Master Giygas, sir, your father wishes to see you on the bridge of the ship," they told him in low mechanical voices.

"I'll be there shortly," the young boy responded quietly. The two Starmen remained in the doorway until Giygas left his "mother's" side and approached them. Maria rose to follow him but the two Last Starmen quickly teleported in front of her and barred her way.

"You are not permitted on the bridge. You must remain here, Maria," they told her.

Maria scowled, but there was also a hint of a smile in her scowl. Little did the Last Starmen know that she was more than capable of killing the two of them with a single thought.

"Fine," she said rebelliously, placing her hands on her hips while standing in front of them. "Have it your way." The two Starmen did not know that she did not intend remain there for long.

Back on Earth, George, Ness, and the three robot soldiers accompanying the two humans emerged from the hatch of a submarine. "I didn't know that submarines were invented so soon," Ness had commented.

"They may not have been," George said in reply. "I invented this vehicle specifically to take me to and from the underwater lab using PSI Alien technology." The five then traveled south of the lake and down the mountain. The two humans were wary of the various animals that were present around the area. Two Grizzly Bears approached and stood on their hind legs in order to look intimidating. The group quickly tried to go around the bears, but the bears cut them off roaring at the top of their lungs in an attempt to scare off the humans and their robotic allies. It was then that George used his telekinesis to pick up the bears. They rose a few feet into the air and George quickly jerked his head to the left. The bears then flew to their right and landed a few yards away. The bears impacted the ground and remained there, looking up at the humans. They quickly rose and for a second considered continuing the fight. Then, something clicked in their minds and they realized that these were two humans that were not to be messed with. The two bears then backed off, allowing the humans and the robots to pass.

After passing the bears, the five continued on the path towards a red cabin on the mountain. When the cabin was within sight, George told Ness more about its purpose. George had built a small house in which he could live in the mountains, away from people, just in case the PSI Aliens came looking for him. The lab was his primary sanctuary, though the small house would also be sufficient should the lab be compromised for whatever reason. He would often come to the small wooden house in order to think whenever he wanted to get away from the lab. He also used it as an emergency retreat should his lab ever be discovered. Its wooden appearance and construction hid what was being built underneath it. Underneath the small house was the flying saucer that George had used in order to escape from the PSI Aliens. He had kept it hidden there, just in case his lab had ever been discovered. He did not want to lose his only ticket to rescuing Maria.

The five quickly approached the house in order to avoid getting into any more conflicts with the local wildlife. Upon reaching the house, George left a small circular object on the ground a few yards away from the cabin. Then he and Ness proceeded to go inside the cabin to get some supplies for the rescue attempt. Inside the house Ness found two energy rifles that he guessed George had stolen from the PSI Aliens. Ness suspected that George would use the energy rifle in order to conserve his psychic energy, or if any of the PSI Aliens raised a psychic shield over themselves in battle. He and George took the energy rifles and then searched a cooler in the house for some items. Inside, Ness found a loaf of bread and a bag of roast beef slices. He took the loaf of bread and the bag of beef slices and looked for a place to stuff them. George soon appeared behind him with a backpack. Ness placed the items in the backpack and soon slung the energy rifle over his shoulder.

When they were finished, the two went back outside where the robots were waiting. It was then that George revealed the real secret of the house. They went into the basement of the small house. The basement was not lit. George did not need the light in order to see. The three robots immediately stepped out in front of the two humans and illuminated the basement. Down in the basement there was a UFO that Ness recognized all too well. The craft was pretty large, at least twenty-eight feet in diameter. The UFO was no taller than the other similar ships that Ness had encountered. He could see that the cockpit on the top of the craft was relatively small. George pushed a button on the side of the vessel and a ramp extended from the bottom of the craft. Ness, George, and the robots then proceeded to board the ship.

Onboard the UFO, Ness found several lights flashing on the console in front of the pilot's station. ADAM, CAIN, and ABEL were safely sealed in the hold of the ship as Ness and George were sitting in the cockpit. It was clear that George had replaced the original seating with more comfortable seats. George went to sit in the pilot's seat on Ness's left and pushed a few buttons and flicked a few controls. Immediately, the lights in the cockpit came on and the cockpit was no longer dark. The cockpit began to hum as the power came on.

"Retracting the ramp, now," George called out, even though Ness was sitting right next to him.

"Is there anything I need to know about this vessel?" Ness asked.

"Not right now," George responded. "The throttle, steering, and other piloting functions are controlled at my station. Your station is the tactical station, which I will teach you about once we're in space. It controls the shields and weapons systems of the ship. We shouldn't have to use them, though."

Ness nodded. George then pushed a few more buttons. The craft began to rise off the ground. "Get ready," he told Ness. "I am taking us out."

With a push of the pedal beneath his feet, the craft accelerated. If anyone had been outside at the time they would have seen the flying saucer rocket into the air at blazing speed. Flocks of birds parted as the UFO streaked towards them. It was not long before the craft had reached orbit over the Earth.

Inside the UFO, George looked out at the cockpit at the stars. "It's been too long since I've been out here," he sighed. "If only it were under better circumstances."

He then looked at a black tape-like device that was sitting near an open slot in the console. Upon reaching Earth's orbit, George reached over and grabbed the device. He then plugged it into the slot. Looking over to Ness, he said, "This is it, Ness. I have reactivated the automatic recall device." He then paused for a second. "We should rest up. Assuming the PSI Aliens are somewhere close to their last location, it should take us at least ten hours for us to reach the fleet."

Ness agreed and he was about to go to sleep in order to rest for the potential battle that was about to come. But before he did, he looked outside at the stars. He could tell that the craft was beginning to accelerate.

"Hyper-launch," George explained. "These craft go faster than the speed of light in our universe by traveling through hyperspace."

The craft was soon accelerating to extreme speeds. The stars began to become lines outside the cockpit. After a few moments, George and Ness found themselves no longer in normal space, but in another dimension. Blue clouds surrounded the UFO as it traveled through hyperspace. They were on their way to the PSI Alien fleet, and hopefully to George's wife, Maria.


	11. Ness Chapter 2

Ness – Chapter 2:

The UFO cruised through hyperspace towards its destination, the flagship of the PSI Aliens. During the trip, George instructed Ness on how to control the tactical systems of the ship. This UFO was mainly a small cargo transport so it carried only limited weaponry and weak shields. George also made the point that if they were to find themselves in a firefight, that their mission would likely have already failed, given that the flagship would have already raised its own shields, which would be nigh impossible for a small cargo UFO to penetrate. After the session of instructions, George went over his plan of attack once again. He and ADAM would go and search for Maria and hopefully draw a large portion of the enemy forces on the ship away from Ness, CAIN, and ABEL. He hoped that they would quickly be able to find the Phase Distorter and get to them before they were overwhelmed. Thinking about the plan, Ness was concerned. He felt that George and ADAM alone would not be able to hold out against too many of them. Still, he knew the importance of getting the Phase Distorter. Without that, they had little chance of escaping the ship with Maria, and even if they did escape, the flagship would likely shoot them down, or track them back to Earth. He glanced down at the energy rifle lying next to his chair. He knew from personal experience that battle plans rarely lasted far beyond the beginning of a mission. He just hoped and prayed that he would be able to handle whatever came his way. With that thought, he went into the back of the craft near a small bed and lied down. He would need to be at full strength, physically and mentally, for when they emerged from hyperspace, hopefully near the enemy fleet.

Back at the Flagship of the PSI Alien armada, Giygas approached the bridge of the ship, and his father, with apprehension. He knew that his father was up to something. He would not have sent down two "Last Starmen" just to call him up to the bridge. The fact that they had not escorted him to the bridge meant that they had been sent to keep Maria from interfering with whatever his father was planning. He dreaded that it was soon going to be time for him to make his choice. Would he accept his purpose in life and become "Giegue", or would he choose to side with a member of an alien race that he knew nothing about, but who had been kind to him when she had no reason to be. He soon found himself before the doors that led to the bridge. He took a deep breath as he approached and the doors slid open. He then set foot on the bridge. Goog sensed the arrival of his older son and turned to Giygas. He smiled at the sight of the boy, but there was little warmth in that smile.

"I'm glad you could join me," Goog said almost sarcastically.

"Well, look who finally decided to watch the show," said a voice coming from the window to Giygas's right. Giygas recognized the voice instantly as having belonged to his younger brother Googi. Googi looked very similar to Giygas, but was younger, smaller, and his skin was a little darker than Giygas's. It was almost gray and his tail and neck tube were clearly gray. When he turned to see his older brother, a grin was plastered onto his face. Giygas frowned.

"Enjoying yourself?" Giygas asked sarcastically.

"Why, yes. I am," Googi responded with glee. "It's not every day I get to see the extermination of a species, much less take part in one directly." He then turned to Giygas and sneered. "Would ya like to join me?"

"No," came the cold response of Giygas.

"Googi," came their father's voice from the Captain's chair. "Stop bothering your brother. I need him to be focused right now."

"Aw, come on Dad," Googi complained. "He'll never come around. He's too attached to the human woman." He then smiled evilly as a thought came to his mind. "Hey Dad, let me kill that human bitch for you. It'll be easy. I may even have some fun with her, if you know what I mean, before I…" but he was interrupted as Giygas shoved him into the window using his telekinesis. Giygas then instantly appeared scant millimeters away from Googi's face, his eyes glowing a deep blue.

"Shut your trap before I show you my real power, evil jerk," Giygas growled.

"Man, what gives?" Googi responded. "You may as well get used to the fact that she's gonna die soon."

"That's enough, Googi," Goog boomed once more. "I don't need you making this more difficult than it already is."

"Right, Dad, right," Googi pouted as he made his way off the bridge. However, Giygas managed to see Googi give a smirk as he left. He could imagine his younger brother laughing as he walked away. A part of him thought that it would be easy to pass this test and become Giegue. Then he would be able to order his younger brother around with impunity. He never liked Googi, mainly because of his sadism. In fact, he had never really been close to his father either. The fact that his father and Googi were not all that dissimilar was a major stumbling block in their relationship. The difference was that his father did not cackle at the sight of an alien world being destroyed, even though he felt just as much pleasure at the destruction as Googi; Googi did. He sincerely hoped that is younger brother never managed to become Giegue at all. If he did, then it would be to the detriment of all.

"Giygas, come here," his father commanded.

The young PSI Alien reluctantly moved forward. He when he was a few feet away, he stopped and stood still, looking up at his father. "What is it father," he asked with reservation.

"You have passed all previous tests, my son. You are a powerful psychic, perhaps one of the strongest psychics on this bridge besides me, and that's despite the fact that you just turned ten today. When you reach your full power, you will be much stronger than any one of our kind. Even your brother, who has a lot of potential himself, will be overshadowed by you."

"I understand father," Giygas said, bowing his head. Despite the compliments, he knew that his father was not yet pleased with him. He knew that if Googi had been smarter that it would be _him_ having this conversation with their father, and their father would probably be prouder.

"I have a final test for you, my son." He then paused for a moment before continuing. "If you pass this test, you will be known as Giegue from here on out. No one will call you Giygas anymore." He let that sink in for a moment before he shifted his tone towards a more somber one. "Should you fail, however, it would be unfortunate. Not only would I have to consider your brother to be your replacement, but a powerful enemy of the PSI Alien race would still be alive."

Giygas did not seem surprised that his final test was the extermination of a race. They were already over a moon that was inhabited by a race called High Star Elves. They had powerful magic, though little psychic potential. However, should they develop psychic powers and combine it with their already formidable magic, they would be a powerful force in the universe, possibly a match for the Magic Lords or even the PSI Lords since they'd have the strengths of both powers.

"When do you want me to begin Ranul's destruction?" Giygas asked almost with a sigh.

"It's not Ranul that I want you to destroy," Goog told his son. "We have already spotted a noticeable number of people willing to collaborate with us in the destruction of the rest of its people. Besides, the High Star Elves aren't any real threat to us right now. You are not needed for that."

Giygas was perplexed. For the life of him, he could not figure out who, or what, was so powerful that he, she, or they needed to be destroyed. The High Star Elves were the first potentially psychic species that they had encountered in a decade or so. And the only other one before them was… "It's not the humans, is it?" Giygas asked. He did not believe that the humans required their attention at the moment.

"No," Goog assured him. "It's not the humans, at least not yet." His eyes then narrowed on his son. "However, your target _is_ human."

_Oh no_, Giygas thought. It could not be. He stared into his father's eyes, his expression begging his father for what he dreaded his mission to be to not be his mission. His father merely nodded. "You must kill Maria, your adoptive mother."

"No!" Giygas cried out, barely able to keep himself from bursting into tears.

"Yes," his father replied, almost growling at Giygas. "This must be done _now_, before she gets any stronger, or her husband comes to rescue her."

"I can't do it!" Giygas declared. "She's my mother! I love her!" He went up to his father and clutched him.

"No," Goog roared, forcing his son back. "You must be the one to do it. Maria must die!" Goog could barely contain his rage at his son's rebellion.

"But why must Maria die?" Giygas asked as tears began to flow down his cheeks. "What has she done to deserve death? She has raised me, as you ordered her to. She has treated me with kindness, and she did not have to do so at all!"

"Many reasons," Goog replied. "First, she _has_ raised you. She has raised you with these flawed human beliefs and concepts like compassion, mercy, love, justice, altruism, and peace. These have no place among our people. Your mind has been corrupted by Maria! Despite everything I have done to try to undo her brainwashing of you, you are still connected to her. That connection must be undone if you are to assume your title and fulfill your purpose in this universe.

"Second, and this one should be more important for you, is that she is a very powerful psychic. She may even be as powerful as a weak PSI Lord at this moment."

Giygas was taken aback by this statement. "What do you mean, father?"

Goog made no attempt to hide his grin as he responded, "I mean that Maria has hidden her power from us, and particularly from you, her own adoptive son." Goog was unable to hide his grin.

"What do you mean by hiding her power from me?" Giygas asked angrily. "I never asked her how powerful she was. She also never used her power against me, either. She would always sing a song to calm me down should I get out of hand."

"Of course she never had any reason to use her power against you," Goog laughed. "But she also never once revealed to you, her son in all but blood, just how powerful she really was. I wonder why that is." Goog seemed to be mocking Giygas's feelings for Maria now.

"Maybe she didn't want you or Googi to find out about her strength," Giygas proclaimed. "Maybe she loved me enough that she did not want me to be corrupted by you and Googi."

"And maybe it's because she simply didn't trust you and she knew that despite everything she did, she would eventually have to kill you," Goog countered. Goog's grin now framed his entire face. "Can you take that chance, Giygas?" he asked, his grin vanishing. He then approached his son and bent down until he was looking into Giygas's eyes. "We will eventually go after her people. I had hoped that you would be Giegue by then and that you would be the leader of the invasion. Still, when we do, should she be alive, and she would be if she is as powerful as I believe her to be, she would be a great and terrible enemy for us to face. And she will only get more powerful over time. You will have to face her someday, Giygas. The choice is whether you face her now and defeat her before she becomes powerful enough to threaten our entire race," Giygas noticed that his father had said "defeat" rather than "kill", though in order to defeat a powerful psychic, one normally would have to kill him or her, "or are you going to face her when her powers have fully matured and she is potentially capable of killing _you_ too?"

Goog let the question sink in for Giygas. Giygas gave a frown and then tilted his head downward towards the ground. He knew what had to be done. He knew what his father, and his people, expected of him. He had known his purpose ever since he had been born. He did not like it, but he knew that if he was to become a PSI Lord, that he would have to take the test sooner or later. He just did not expect it to come to having to kill the woman he viewed as his mother. After a while, Giygas simply said, "I understand, Father."

Goog then attempted to smile gently at his son, however, Giygas could not help but notice a harder edge to his father's smile. "Then you know what you must do," he said gently. Giygas knew, though, that his father had no compassion in his heart at all.

"I do," Giygas replied. Tears still streamed down the young alien's face, but Goog knew that Giygas could not afford to refuse. It was his destiny.

Giygas then turned around and left the bridge. After Giygas had left the bridge, Goog's gentle smile transformed into a sadistic grin. Finally, he had done it. He had won his son over to his side. It was actually easier than expected. At first, he began to wonder if Giygas really meant to go through with it. But that thought soon left him. He was still too jubilant over his son's conversion. He soon turned to his right and boldly ordered, "Communications, order the fleet to begin bombardment of Ranul. Tell them to only destroy the primary targets. We have some collaborators that will prove useful to us, so don't kill any of them. They'll die soon enough."

"Yes, Master," a PSI Alien responded as he opened a channel to the rest of the fleet and relayed Goog's orders. After a chorus of acknowledgements, Goog watched the screen. He wanted to savor Ranul's destruction. He watched as the fleet began to bombard the moon. Pink ovals of energy rained down upon the moon. The surface explosions were invisible to the naked eyes of the aliens in orbit, but if he had been on the ground, he would have witnessed small towns being reduced to cinders after only a few blasts of energy. The primary cities and major bases would likely have been destroyed by the end of the hour, and then they would move on to their secondary targets. But the destruction of the High Star Elves was nothing to his victory over his own son. Soon, that human woman would be dead, at the hands of her own adoptive son, Giygas, or rather, Giegue.

Inside her quarters, Maria stared into the visors of the two Last Starmen that had been sent to keep her imprisoned inside her quarters. She tried to walk around the two Starmen, but they blocked her every turn.

"Why aren't you letting me pass?" she demanded.

"Our orders are to keep you here until the new Giegue returns," one of the Last Starmen said in answer.

"You mean keep me away from Giygas until he is converted into a heartless monster," she retorted.

"That is correct," the other Last Starman confirmed, not bothering to deny what Goog was planning with Giygas.

"Then I must force you to disobey your orders," Maria said with a grin.

Both of the Last Starmen began in unison, "That is imposs…" but they never got a chance to finish their sentence, for Maria immediately used her telepathy to put them to sleep. Despite being psychics, the Last Starmen had poor standard psychic defenses, something that Maria had learned very quickly in her stay with the PSI Lords. They quickly fell to the ground, unconscious. "I will find my son, now," she told the unconscious Starmen in a cold voice.

She then made her way towards the exit when it slid open. Standing in the doorway was none other than Giygas. Giygas glanced past Maria and noticed the two unconscious Last Starmen on the floor. A tear came to his eye. "So it's true, Mother," he said.

"What is true?" Maria asked, not knowing where her son was going with that statement.

"You have hidden the full extent of your power from us. From me," he accused.

A sad look crossed Maria's face. She glanced down at the floor. "I did not intend to hide my power from you, Giygas. I never had any need to use my psychic powers in front of you."

"It doesn't matter anymore," he cried. "I thought you loved me!"

"I do love you," Maria countered, trying to assure him that she did love him. "Scan me, now. You will know that I love you and would never try to hurt you. You are my son."

"We'll see," Giygas responded in a hard voice.

Giygas's eyes began to glow as he scanned Maria's mind. But he could find nothing. "You lie!" he cried out, pointing his finger at Maria.

"What do you mean?" Maria cried out in response. "I have opened my mind to you!" She then noticed the two Last Starmen behind her beginning to rise. They were blocking Giygas's scans and trying to make it look like she was blocking him instead. She then heard them call out to Giygas, "Now, Lord Giegue! Kill her now!"

Maria then blasted the two Starmen with a blast of lightning. The lightning bolts burned through their uniforms and electrocuted the psychic cyborgs inside of them. She then turned back to Giygas and pleaded with him once more. "Scan me now, son." Giygas's eyes then glowed once more as he scanned her. He soon saw that she was, indeed, telling him the truth. But he also saw that she was far more powerful than he had ever thought. His father was right. She was hiding her power, not from him, but from everyone else. He knew what his father, and his people expected of him. Even with the Last Starmen blocking his scans, he believed that he had every reason to suspect that Maria would never want to hurt him. But he also knew that Maria was loyal to her husband, and to humanity. He and his people would eventually move on to Earth. And when that happened, he knew that Maria would defend it with all of her power, even if it meant fighting Giygas, though she would be loathe to do so. Still, he knew what he had to do…for his people.

Tears welled up in Giygas's eyes as he proclaimed, "I must fulfill my purpose, Mother. The power of PSI must never spread to Earth. To that end…" Giygas extended his hands towards Maria and unleashed a massive blast of PSI Thunder Omega upon her. The bolts of lightning struck the woman and threw her into the window at the other end of the room. A field of energy flared for a brief instant as Maria struck the window. Giygas had erected a psychic dome to prevent the fight from spreading out into the hallway, or from damaging the rest of the ship. Maria fell to the ground, electricity arcing all over her body. Maria stared up at Giygas weakly as he said, "…you must die."

Hurtling though hyperspace in their stolen UFO, Ness awoke from his sleep to a beep that sounded out throughout the cabin. He quickly went up to the cockpit and saw the now familiar sight of George sitting at the pilot's station. He turned to Ness and alerted Ness to the situation. "We're coming up on our target. The ship will emerge from hyperspace on its own and also guide itself into the shuttle bay of the Flagship, assuming things go as planned. Even if they do, we should be prepared. I wouldn't be surprised if the PSI Aliens prepared a trap upon my return."

Ness nodded but said nothing. He merely assumed his station next to George. There, he waited for the ship to emerge from hyperspace. They waited for only a few minutes before the blue clouds outside transformed into bluish-white streaks of light. After a few seconds, the streaks of light transformed into stars as the ship emerged from hyperspace. Ness noticed that the effect was similar to ships from Star Wars emerging from hyperspace, something that had evaded his notice earlier.

Upon exiting from hyperspace, the two humans found themselves close to a green jewel of a moon orbiting a large, blue planet. In the orbit of the moon was a fleet of thousands of starships, many of them larger versions of the UFO that George and Ness were piloting. Ness could also see the pink ovals of energy that were being hurled down at the moon. "Looks like they're bombing the moon," George noted.

"Is that unusual?" Ness asked in reply.

"Possibly," George began. He quickly looked at the moon and noticed no explosions on the surface of the moon itself. However, he could hear the psychic cries of the people on the moon that were dying. It was a full-scale orbital bombardment. He could also sense the magical power that the people on the moon possessed, as well as their latent psychic potential. This _was_ unusual. "Usually when the PSI Aliens destroy a species, they lay waste to the planet themselves using their own psychic power. It's very rare for them to destroy a psychic species by using their starfleet. They only generally do that for when they destroy a non-psychic species, or want to bring some survivors onboard. That may happen should they find a sufficient number of collaborators that have noticeable value. As for why they don't usually use their ships for killing everything on a planet, their weapons aren't generally powerful enough to do so in a timely fashion. That, and they have the power to do so. It's just pride."

The UFO quickly approached one of the larger ships in the fleet. This one was not simply a larger flying saucer, like so many of the other ships. This one looked like a semi-spherical UFO. It was all too familiar to George. He watched as several UFOs joined his in a diamond formation with his ship leading. Ness and George held their breaths as the craft approached the fighter bay. George hoped that the pilots of the other craft were either A: not psychic, or B: were not too concerned about scanning pilots of UFOs. There were a large number of things that could go wrong here. George watched intently as the weapons batteries of the flagship unleashed barrage after barrage of fire upon the moon, hoping that none of the batteries or cannons diverted its fire for an instant towards his craft. The PSI Aliens did not view the UFOs as being all that valuable. They would gladly scrap a single squadron of UFOs, and the Starmen piloting them, in order to kill a traitor or a powerful enemy. Fortunately, for George, they were not targeting his UFO.

Slowly but surely, the UFO approached the fighter bays of the PSI Alien Flagship. It was not long before the rest of his squadron broke off and headed towards individual fighter and shuttle bays. His UFO was headed towards a fighter bay straight ahead. Ness stared in awe as the alien Flagship grew in size until Ness realized that it was practically the size of a small city. The entrance to the Flagship grew in size as they approached. Ness could see the light that was the beginning of the tunnel leading to the main fighter bay. Their UFO automatically slowed down as it approached the tunnel. Upon entering, Ness could see the metallic walls surrounding the lone UFO as it slowly proceeded down the tunnel. Eventually, the almost claustrophobic space opened up into a massive area full of grounded UFOs, robots, and other weapons of war. Ness recognized several robots from his own adventures, but others were completely unfamiliar to him. One robot that caught his attention, though, was a massive gray humanoid robot whose torso reminded him of a garbage can. George noticed Ness focusing on the large, gray robot. "That's an R7037," George informed him. "They are powerful robots that are often at the front of any invasion force. They're death against anything the Earth can currently field." Ness nodded. He wondered if they could be defeated by anything that the Earth of the twenty-first century could field.

The two humans soon saw an empty space in the bay and suspected that that was their landing spot. Ness and George quickly noticed several Starmen, aliens that looked to be some form of Mook, and some other robots that looked like old medieval suits of armor holding spears. The Starmen and Mooks worried Ness since he knew that they were psychic. He turned to George and pointed down at the Mooks and Starmen.

"I know," George whispered. "I'm deflecting any scans so this craft will show up as unoccupied, but I don't know how long I'll be able to keep it up before they get suspicious."

The UFO slowly approached their landing spot and after it had arrived, it began to hover before extending its landing pads and lowering itself into its space. Both Ness and George felt the craft shake and heard a knock as the UFO landed. Ness, not being telepathic except for being able to communicate with animals, did not have first hand knowledge on how to block a psychic scan, much less how to block it while making it look like there was no one present. He soon heard the sound of alien voices speaking. The mechanical tones that he heard made him think of the Starman Deluxe that he had faced in Stonehenge Base during the War Against Giygas. However, he did not recognize the language. He turned to George only to find that George was back in the cockpit looking at the tactical screen. "What are you doing?" Ness whispered, in a concerned voice.

"I'm trying to get a layout of the ship," the older psychic replied softly. "We need to find a place where we all can teleport safely. Those Starmen, Mooks, and Armors will board this craft soon, and I don't want the fighting to start in the landing bay, especially with that R7037 standing out there." After a few moments, he moved from the console. "Got it," he said.

Hunkering down with Ness, he moved into the cargo area and gathered a currently deactivated ADAM, CAIN, and ABEL. Pulling close to the robots, George told Ness, "Get ready, kid." The quintet then disappeared from the hold. It was not long before the boarding ramp lowered and two Starmen came onboard the starship. They quickly scanned the area, but could find not anyone, or anything inside.

One of the Starmen then activated the communicator inside his suit and spoke, "Master Goog, we have a report. One of the saucers that landed is the craft that the human male stole during his escape seven of his years ago. However, there are no signs of life or equipment onboard the vessel."

The Starman waited for a few moments before a voice sounded in his suit, "I have sent a scanning crew down to the main landing bay. Remain there and secure the ship. Scan the rest of the landing bay and the areas surrounding the bay as well. There may be no sign of the human male, but that doesn't mean he isn't here."

"Understood," the Starman responded.

"Our orders?" the other Starman asked.

"We remain here until the scanning crew arrives," was the first Starman's only response. Then, the two of them waited, along with the Mooks and the Armors.

Outside the main landing bay, George quickly reactivated ADAM, CAIN, and ABEL. He then quickly ushered the robots and Ness away from the main landing bay and into what was a usually unused room not too far away from the landing bay. Inside the room were uniforms designed to fit humanoid servants of the PSI Aliens. The insignia of the PSI Aliens was readily visible on the upper left part of the chest of the uniform. Handing a uniform to Ness, he said, "Put this on. There are many collaborators, even young human-looking collaborators, onboard this vessel. They aren't generally scanned until they suspect something is wrong. Just let CAIN and ABEL follow you around and don't act suspicious. The cargo bay is several decks below this one, but the turbolift is a ways away. Do your best not to be seen."

Ness nodded. "I will," he assured George. He could avoid detection easily enough.

"One last thing," George added. "Try not to use any offensive psychic powers. The PSI Aliens will detect it and be upon you in an instant."

"Don't worry, sir," Ness assured George. "I'll stick to the plan."

The two humans then put their uniforms on, consisting of silver shirts and pants for Ness, while George's was gold in color. George then told Ness, "There's a map station a few meters down the hall." He then handed Ness a data pad and an small conical device. "You can download the map of this ship to this pad. If you find out anything important, don't hesitate to call me. The communicators that we have are two-way. No one else can hack the signal."

Ness took the data pad and the communicator and said, "Got it." Then, the two exited the room and both made their way to their separate locations.

Back in Maria's quarters, Giygas was slowly approaching the fallen Maria. He extended his hand out in front of him, lightning arcing between his fingers. "Why couldn't you have simply joined us when we gave you the chance?" Giygas pleaded. "It does not have to end like this. You can still join us," he offered. "Forget the rest of humanity. They are monsters anyway."

"And your people aren't?" Maria countered weakly.

"This is your last chance, Mother," Giygas warned as he approached. "Join us now, or die with the rest of humanity."

"Neither," came Maria's response as she extended her arm unleashed a wave of invisible telekinetic energy upon Giygas. The wave struck Giygas and sent him flying into the door. The psychic energy dome flared for a brief instant as he struck the door and fell to the ground. Maria lifted herself up and extended her right arm and pointed at him with two fingers, a red flame emanating from them. Giygas quickly raised a psychic shield as Maria unleashed a blast of PSI Fire upon her adoptive son. The fire struck the shield and it flared into existence. The shield was successful in holding back the physical force of the flame, but the heat of the flame was beginning to bleed through. The young PSI Alien extended his left hand in an effort to focus the remnants of his shield against blocking the heat of the psychic attack, but it was of little use. Giygas could see parts of his hand turning red as his shield was unable to block the actual physical heat of the psychic flame. He cried out in agony as his hand began to blister and parts of the skin of his hand began to melt. Soon, the psychic onslaught ceased. Giygas looked at Maria and saw tears rolling down her cheeks. Now it was her turn to offer him a choice. "You don't have to do this, my son."

"I am not your son!" Giygas cried out in a rage, showing her his burned hand. He then used PSI Lifeup to heal the damage done to his hand. "I am a PSI Lord! My duty is to prevent the spread of PSI to any unworthy race by any means necessary. And _you_ are unworthy of such power!"

With that, he grabbed her with his own telekinesis and drew her closer to him until they stared into each other's faces. Giygas laughed as he then threw her back towards the wall, where Maria fell into a heap on the floor. She simply remained there and waited, staring at Giygas, an insane grin twisting his alien lips. To her, it was as if he truly now was an alien. The child that she had raised from infancy was no longer there, replaced with this twisted and distorted version of Giygas. She knew that she could not bring herself to use her full power against her own son. Still, she did have one option left to her. She soon saw Giygas approaching her, his sadistic grin still plastered on his face. It was then that Maria used her trump card. She hoped that this would work since she did not wish to fight her own adoptive son. She then began to sing:

_Take a melody_

_Simple as can be_

_Give it some words_

_And sweet harmony_

_Raise your voices_

_All day long now_

_Love grows strong now_

_Sing a melody of love, oh love._

As Maria sang the beautiful song, Giygas stopped advancing on her. His resolve seemingly began to falter as he listened to Maria sing. The song had always been used as a lullaby when he was younger. He had always liked listening to Maria sing, but he had not particularly liked this particular song. Still, it was enough to get him to pause. He knew that Maria still loved him, otherwise she would have put up a stronger resistance to his attacks, and more force into hers. When Maria ended her song, Giygas seemingly seemed to calm down. His grin left his face and he began to cry. Maria rose and began to approach in order to hug him. "It's alright, Giygas," she assured him as she sought to comfort her son. "I forgive you. I'll always be there for you."

She then reached Giygas and embraced him. It was then that Giygas grinned. "That song no longer has any effect on me," he said in a sinister voice. He then blasted Maria with a volley of PSI Thunder Omega. The force of the attack drove her into the window. She collided with the window and fell to the floor into a heap. Giygas grinned again. "Foolish woman," he said mockingly. "My choice is made. I am Giegue!" he proclaimed.

Maria then rose to face him once more. Tears formed in her eyes as she realized that her son was lost to her. Giygas was nothing more than a monster, now. He quickly powered a psychic attack that he had seldom used or trained with before, but he felt it was necessary to kill Maria as quickly as possible, before Maria realized that he was a lost cause and began to fight him seriously. "PSI Starstorm Omega!" he cried out at the top of his lungs.

Green orbs of energy began to spring into existence all around him. First four, then eight, then twelve, then sixteen, on and on it went. After his area of the room seemed to be filled with orbs of energy he unleashed then upon Maria. However, before he had finished powering the attack, Maria had raised a psychic counter shield. The stars impacted the shield, which flared with each hit, and the shield reflected the stars of Giygas's Starstorm back at the PSI Alien. Some of the reflected stars collided with other stars that had not yet hit their mark and the collisions resulted in numerous explosions in midair. However, many of the stars had made it through to Giygas unscathed. What had remained of Giygas's shield flared into existence when the first stars struck, but it did not last long against the withering onslaught of Giygas's own psychic energy. The shield collapsed after the third star and after that, Giygas felt the punishing blow of each and every remaining star slam into him. One after the other, he was assaulted by his own attack. Each impact pushed Giygas farther and farther away from Maria. However, despite the fact that his shield had collapsed, his reflected attack did not inflict fatal damage on him.

After the final star struck him, he took one step forward. It was forced and slow, but he still managed to stay on his feet. He stared back at Maria. He saw her eyes glow as well as the fact that she was breathing heavily. His attack had managed to cause her some strain, and maybe even inflict some damage, even though it had been reflected back at him. He quickly raised another psychic shield as Maria powered a ball of blue energy in her hand. The ball of energy was at first, the size of a baseball. Then it grew in size until it was the size of a grapefruit, then a beach ball, then a small boulder. She then pointed the ball of energy at Giygas and cried out, "PSI Song Omega!"

Giygas's eyes went wide. Maria had powered her own variant of PSI Special to its Omega variant. And this one was powerful. Even with his shield, he knew that he would take damage. He waited for Maria to launch the attack and he added an extra layer to his psychic shield. Maria launched the attack and the ball of psychic energy rocketed across the small distance and struck Giygas in the chest. The psychic boulder exploded upon impact and a globe of psychic energy engulfed Giygas. The field stayed active for a few seconds before it began to dissipate. Maria watched intently as the field of energy dissipated. She could not hide her shock when she found Giygas emerge from the field, his shield smoking, but otherwise unscathed. "It seems as if I'm not the only one whose powers aren't fully revealed," she commented not quite bitterly.

Giygas then gave a grin. Maria could not tell if it was genuine or forced. "My turn," was all Giygas said before going on the offensive.

"Shield Off," Giygas cried as his eyes began to glow. Maria's shield instantly collapsed after Giygas had uttered those words. He then powered a ball of green energy in his left hand. It grew until it was about the size of a beach ball. "PSI Special!" he cried towards Maria. Maria could hear him laugh as he unleashed the psychic attack upon her. She quickly raised a psychic shield over her body just before the ball had impacted her. The psychic energy ball impacted her shield and detonated. A globe of green psychic energy formed and engulfed Maria. It took the ball of energy around ten seconds to dissipate. When it eventually did, Maria emerged from the center of the ball, her shield collapsed and her body and dress smoking, but otherwise, she was seemingly unhurt. She then fell to one knee. Giygas looked down at her and smiled as she struggled to rise. He then began to approach his "mother". "Now it ends, Mother," he seemingly gloated.

However, Maria could sense glimmer of doubt, remorse, and even sadness in his voice. She could also sense him focusing a blast of PSI Beam Gamma in his left hand as he approached. He then stopped when he was only a few inches away. In her current state, if his attack managed to connect with her now, she would die. She soon did the only thing she could. She pointed looked up at Giygas and lightning sprang into existence between the fingers of both of her hands. She then unleashed a blast of PSI Thunder Omega upon the alien child. Giygas extended his hands and caught the bolts of lightning. However, this attack was powerful and Giygas had been weakened earlier by Maria's attacks and his own reflected Starstorm. He strained against the power of Maria as attempted to push back her attack. Each psychic force pushed his or her hands closer and closer as each tried to overpower the other. It was not long before their hands were practically touching, and sparks of lightning were erupting from the space in between the two of them. After a few seconds, though, there was an explosion of power as the energy erupted from the small space between the two combatants and exploded. Both Giygas and Maria were thrown to opposite ends of the room. Giygas landed a few feet away skidded over to the exit to Maria's lavish suite. Maria flew through the air and crashed into the window again. She then fell to the floor, exhausted, but still alive and able to fight. Both combatants then pulled themselves back and glared at each other. Both knew now that the other was a force to be reckoned with. Giygas quickly pulled two cylindrical objects from the fallen Starmen and he pushed a button on their sides. Out sprang two green blades of energy. Giygas grinned. If they were relatively equal in a psychic battle, then he would see how Maria could handle herself in a physical confrontation.


	12. Ness Chapter 3

Ness – Chapter 3:

Ness, CAIN, and ABEL made their way through the massive ship trying to look as natural and inconspicuous as possible. The fact that Ness had a PSI Alien servant uniform on meant that they were being allowed to pass without drawing too much attention being paid to them. Ness quickly found the map station that George had mentioned and he stuck in his data pad in order to download the map to the pad. He pushed a few buttons and after a few seconds, the map was downloaded to the data pad. Ness was glad that George had instructed him on how to use these machines during the trip. After the download was finished, Ness unplugged the pad from the station and continued on his journey. His next mission was to find the cargo bay that held the Phase Distorter. He studied the map that he brought up on the data pad and he quickly found out that that would be more complicated than he thought since there were three cargo bays, each in different areas of the ship. Ness searched the map for the location of a data port that might give him the cargo manifest for the ship and possibly the location of the Phase Distorter. God was smiling down on Ness today, for he quickly saw that the nearest data port was only one level below him, and there was a turbolift not too far away.

Ness, CAIN, and ABEL soon proceeded towards the turbolift. On the way, they passed groups of Starmen in blue and yellow uniforms. He also found several Mooks as well. They looked different from the Lesser Mooks and the Mook Seniors that he had encountered in his last adventure. They gave him strange looks and eerie grins as well. However, they did not launch any attacks against the three of them. Ness passed the Mooks and Starmen nervously, though he did his best to hide it. Still, something struck Ness. While he was not much of an energy sensor, that he knew of, he got the distinct impression that these Starmen and Mooks were noticeably weaker than the Mooks and Starmen that he had encountered during the War Against Giygas. Not too far down the hall, he quickly found what appeared to be a female elf in an elegant blue dress near the turbo lift. The long, pointed ears and her otherwise human appearance gave her away. She was also young, only about eighteen years old, if Ness had to venture a guess. She also had blue hair that went down below her shoulders. Ness looked away from the girl so as not to draw attention to himself. That failed.

"Hormonal levels indicate that she considers you quite handsome, young hu... boy," ABEL said, catching himself. This made Ness quite nervous. It only got worse as the girl joined him on his way to the turbolift.

As soon as they arrived at the turbolift and Ness had pushed the button calling the elevator, the girl tried to make conversation with Ness. "Hey, boy," she said in a gleeful voice, "Ya goin' down?"

Her question made Ness nervous. He did not know whether or not the girl meant 'goin' down' in the literal sense with regards to the elevator, or whether she meant it as in he was about to die.

"Uh, yeah," Ness managed to stammer in reply. The girl laughed at his unease. It was not long before the elevator arrived.

"Hey boy," she began. "You're handsome."

"Uh, thanks," Ness replied nervously. The elf was beginning to make Ness quite uneasy. Fortunately, the elevator then arrived. When the doors opened, Ness quickly ducked into the elevator. CAIN and ABEL followed him, as did the girl. He then pushed the button for the next level as the doors closed.

Onboard the elevator, the girl continued to make conversation with Ness. "Hey, boy," she said in gleeful voice, "you don't look like any of the other species here on this ship. What race do you belong to?"

This caught Ness off guard. He prayed that the young woman was not psychic. He decided to make up a name. "Well, uh, my people are called Terrestrials, heh, heh, heh," he laughed nervously, praying that she did not make the connection to his species' real name.

"Terrestrials, huh," she said, not certain if that was his people's real name or not. "Well, you Terrestrials are quite handsome. You're still young, right?"

"Yes," Ness replied.

"Um, are you below the age of ascension?"

"Age of ascension?" Ness asked nervously. He had a feeling that he knew where this conversation was going.

"The age where you become an adult on your world," the girl explained.

Ness nodded. "Yes."

"Very well," the girl said, disappointed. "Do you know if there are any boys of your species sixteen or older on this ship that are looking for a girlfriend?" she asked in a hopeful tone.

"No," Ness replied, trying to sound normal.

"Oh, okay," the girl replied, disappointed. She then turned away, not wanting to embarrass herself any more than she already had.

It was not long before the elevator doors opened, revealing Ness's destination. He quickly fled the elevator with CAIN and ABEL following close behind. Ness looked behind to see if the elf girl was following. She was not, which prompted Ness to breathe a sigh of relief. After catching his breath for a moment, glad that the girl was not following him, Ness proceeded to make his way towards the data port, which was not too far away. On the way he passed more elves, both male and female, as well as some familiar Starmen.

It was not long before Ness and the others arrived at the data port terminal. He input his data pad and pushed a button. Soon, the cargo manifest of the cargo bays was downloaded to his pad. He quickly pulled out his pad and an alarm klaxon immediately blared into existence. Just then, a deep voice sounded over the loudspeakers. While it was speaking an alien language, Ness had no need for translation. He knew that he had been spotted. He quickly glanced down towards the data pad and noticed, much to his chagrin, that the cargo bay with the Phase Distorter was on the other side of the ship. Still, he had no choice. What he did not know was that the klaxons were not blaring because of his retrieval of the cargo manifest, it was because George had been spotted.

On the bridge of the ship, Goog listened to the reports that were coming in all over the comms. "We have an intruder," the voices cried over the comm. "The human male, George, has been spotted on this starship."

That was not what Goog wanted to hear. He growled as he opened a channel to the ship's security and yelled, "This is Master Goog to Security. We have an intruder onboard the starship. The intruder is the human that escaped from us seven years ago, George. Search the ship now and find him. When you do, kill him!" He then pressed a button and the alarm klaxons began to ring out throughout the ship.

"Master," one of the PSI Aliens called. "We have another security breach."

This caught Goog by surprise. "What is it now?" he asked the PSI Alien manning a console right of the turbo lift doors.

"Master, the cargo manifest of this ship was downloaded by an unauthorized party," the PSI Alien answered. "We were unable to determine who gained access to the data, though."

A thought then came to Goog. "Tell Security to find and kill any human they come across. Also tell them to kill or destroy any companions they may have, living or otherwise. Also, read the manifest of all species onboard this ship. If anyone is of a species that is not listed on that manifest, even if they wear a uniform, kill them immediately. If you are uncertain if they are on the manifest or not, kill them anyway."

A chorus of affirmatives answered Goog. Goog's executive officer then approached Goog and whispered a question into his ear. "Master, why are you targeting all humans? There are only two of them, assuming Giygas has yet to kill Maria. Not only that, but with your kill anything of a different species than something that's already onboard the ship, we could lose several of our High Star Elf collaborators."

"I wouldn't be surprised if George had an accomplice," Goog answered. "While it is likely that his accomplice is human, it is also possible that he may have an alien accomplice with a grudge against us. There have been survivors of our invasions before and since Earth is not in our direct flight path, it would make a good sanctuary world. It is also possible that there could even be Magic Lords onboard since there is an old human saying: 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'. Also, the loss of a few collaborators that may have arrived recently is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Just make sure that George is dead, as are any of his comrades, human or otherwise."

"Yes, Master," his executive officer answered. Goog then went back to his chair and sat down. There, he awaited news of the death of the two humans that were onboard the ship.

Meanwhile, in one of the corridors of the ship, George and ADAM were busy fighting off a legion of Starmen and Mooks. He used a wave of PSI Fire Omega to destroy many of the Starmen and Mooks that were standing in front of him. Fire washed over the enemy and they flailed about as they burned. George and ADAM then charged through as they went down a second corridor and saw more enemies. This time, half a dozen Armors appeared in front of them. Not wanting to waste any of his psychic energy, George unslung his energy rifle and opened fire on the Armors. Two suits were felled with little more than single blasts of green energy. ADAM also added to the volume of fire. His twin linked rapid-fire light plasma cannons made short work of the remaining Armors. With that threat out of the way, George continued down another corridor. This time, he was stopped by a Gargoyle, a monster that walked on all fours and looked like a demon from the stuff of nightmares. While the Gargoyle did have potent psychic attacks, it was no match for ADAM. ADAM aimed his plasma cannons at the creature and opened fire. The Gargoyle was not ready for such an onslaught and it was quickly reduced to rubble. George and ADAM then made their way past the remains of the Gargoyle.

So far, despite the heavy resistance that they faced, he had not needed to use any of his psychic restoration items, and save for that one use of PSI Fire Omega, he had not used any PSI attacks. Soon, he activated his telepathy in order to zero in on his wife's location. He quickly managed sensed her. The problem was that she was located many levels above his current location and on the other side of the ship. However, with ADAM fighting alongside him, he felt that he could handle anything they threw at him short of an R7037 or a PSI Alien. The Starmen, Mooks, Armors, and other aliens and robots that had engaged him were not much of a threat. However, he also sensed that she was doing battle with a PSI Alien. The sensation of that PSI Alien was all too familiar to George... it was Giegue. So without any further dallying, he and ADAM continued their way throughout the ship in search of Maria. Now, he could only hope that Ness was not encountering any strong resistance on his way to the Phase Distorter.

Ness was not having any problems of his own, yet, though he was doing his best to avoid detection. He knew that he did not have the power to face down everyone here. He continued to make his way down the corridor, staring at the map on the data pad in his left hand. He, CAIN, and ABEL quickly ducked behind a small pillar as he heard footsteps approaching. He soon heard the footfalls pass by him. Peering out from the pillar, he saw a dozen or more Starmen in yellow uniforms. He believed them to be Starman Supers. Following them were dozens of other aliens the likes of which he had never seen before. Some of them looked like aliens from UFO casebooks, others looked like Roswell Grays, and yet others looked like green-skinned humans. Others, still, looked like orcs or trolls from fantasy stories. The other aliens were all in gray uniforms that bore the insignia of the Starmen. He quickly guessed that many of the aliens were not psychic, for the aliens that the Starmen had been leading were all armed with rifles, pistols, and grenades. Ness could hear the aliens and the Starmen talking in an unknown language. It was now that he wished that he had the ability to read the minds of sentients. At least, he would know if he had been discovered. After a while, the aliens all passed and he could no longer hear any more footfalls.

Ness, CAIN, and ABEL quickly emerged from their cover and proceeded down the corridor. Ness scanned his map, hoping that he would be able to find a life that would take him to the cargo bay at the other side of the ship. After looking up from his pad, his eyes went wide as he found a Starman in a yellow uniform standing before him. The Starman then spoke to Ness in an alien language. Ness did not dare to respond, for he suspected that if he did, that the Starman would know that he was human. However, his silence meant nothing since the Starman soon said, "Rounded ears, one head, two arms, two legs, blue eyes, black hair. You are a human." The Starman then prepared to attack as it yelled out, "PSI Beam Gamma!"

But before the Starman could fire his psychic beam at Ness, Ness unslung his energy rifle and he and CAIN opened fire on the Starman. The volley of energy fire was overkill for the Starman. Multiple holes were burned into the Starman's uniform as it fell to the ground, smoke rising from the numerous holes that had been blown through his body. Ness was surprised that a Starman Super had fallen so easily. He began to suspect that this Starman was not a Starman Super at all. Heck, it might not have even been as powerful as a normal Starman. Their attacks were severe overkill. More alarms began to blare and Ness realized that he needed to get moving. Ness and the robots then proceeded to make their way through the ship towards the tertiary cargo bay, the cargo bay that the cargo manifest indicated was storing the Phase Distorter.

Not too far along his path, Ness heard the sound of footsteps approaching. There were no pillars or alcoves to hide in now, but there was a door not too far away down the hall. Ness hastened towards the door, followed by CAIN and ABEL. As he approached the door, it slid open and Ness and the robots ducked into the room before a trio of elves, one male and two female, rushed down the corridor, eager to make a good impression on their benefactors by helping them take out the intruders that had been found onboard the ship.

Inside the room, Ness quickly realized that he had made a tactical error in fleeing the corridor, since this room was crawling with a dozen Starmen in blue uniforms and four more Starmen in yellow uniforms. The Starmen instantly began to target Ness using their signature attacks, PSI Beam at the Beta and Gamma levels. Ness ducked behind a monitor and avoided the psychic blasts that were aimed at him. However, CAIN and ABEL, being so large, were unable to hide. Several blasts managed to strike the robots, but the armor on the robots held and the attacks did little more than inflict a few scratches on the robots. The same could not be said about the robots' counterstrike on the Blue Starmen and Last Starmen. ABEL fired a missile from his left wrist, which streaked directly towards the Last Starmen in front of the pack. The missile immediately broke off into four smaller missiles and streaked towards various Starmen in the swarm. The missiles soon found their targets and exploded, tearing apart Blue Starmen and Last Starmen alike. Bodies were being tossed around like rag dolls by the explosions. With a single attack, ABEL had killed six Starmen and wounded three others. That left seven uninjured Starmen for Ness and CAIN to deal with, which they did quickly. The remaining Starmen continued to fire their PSI Beams at the two robots and Ness, but Ness's cover held up nicely, and the robots' armor was shielding them from the blasts of Beam. Ness and CAIN quickly fired into the fray, felling the remaining Starmen in short order.

After the battle had concluded, Ness emerged from cover and examined the room. Sixteen Starmen lay dead on the floor in front of them. Ness then examined the room, itself. There were several monitors with pictures showing on the screens. Ness ventured to guess that this was a security monitoring station. His hunch was correct. Ness saw various monitors frame the walls and consoles. He went over to one of the stations and gazed at the monitor. On the monitor, he saw a human woman in a pink dress with blond hair fighting what looked to be a young PSI Alien. The woman's dress was short, it was cut a few inches above the knee, though Ness noticed that the cut seemed to be uneven, as if it was torn, rather than cut. The young PSI Alien had two energy swords in his hands and was doing his best to slice apart the woman. Ness figured that the woman had torn her dress on purpose in order to gain some mobility against her opponent. He saw PSI Alien child try to bring down one of the blades onto the woman and cleave her skull, but she managed to catch one of the blades and sweep the child's legs out from under him, causing him to fall. The woman grabbed the blade and backed away. Ness saw something in her eyes that made it seem as if she could have taken the offensive and significantly injured the PSI Alien child, but she held back on purpose. Her voice then sounded through the monitor, "It doesn't have to be this way, Giygas."

_Giygas_? Ness thought, his eyes wide. _Did she just call that child Giygas_? Things just got a lot more interesting for Ness. The PSI Alien child then gave his reply. "I am no longer Giygas, Mother. I am Giegue, the soon to be leader of the PSI Lords. Your continued existence is a hindrance to my ultimate purpose."

"And what is that purpose, _Giegue_, the destruction of every species?"

"No," the child replied. "My purpose is to prevent the spread of PSI to other races."

The woman almost laughed. "Prevent the spread of PSI? PSI is purely genetic. There is no magic or other force behind it except nature and God. If a race can use psychic powers, they can use it because the power is literally built into them. Your kind taught me that when they taught me about genetics."

"Then maybe you're right, Mother," Giygas said with an evil grin. "Maybe my mission _is_ to destroy all other races…before they develop or realize their psychic powers."

It was then that Giygas charged the woman. Before he could make contact with her, though, an invisible force slammed into him and shoved him backwards. Giygas landed on his feet and returned the favor with a blast of PSI Fire. The woman raised a psychic shield over her body and the fire spread out over her, engulfing the woman, though Ness heard no screams emanating from the ball of fire that was surrounding the woman. Eventually, the stream of fire stopped and the fire dissipated. Ness saw the woman standing still, unharmed in any way. Her shield, however, was still smoking. She stared into the eyes of the child as if pleading for him to stop. A realization soon struck Ness. This woman was Maria, George's wife. He quickly scanned the monitor to see where the two were fighting. He then activated his communicator and called into it, "George, I've found Maria. She's on Deck Two, Section Five, in Quarters Two-Four-Three."

"Got it, Ness," George replied. "I'm on my way there now." Ness could hear the sounds of battle over the communicator.

"Hurry," Ness warned. "She's fighting a PSI Alien child and she is at best fighting him to a stalemate, so far."

"Got it," George replied.

Ness then shut off the communicator and took one last glance into the monitor to see Maria and Giygas continue their battle. Now, it was a PSI Thunder battle, which seemed to be relatively even, as both combatants were approaching each other, firing bolts of lightning at the other, forming a ball of electricity in the center of the room. With effort, Ness peeled his eyes away from the monitor and went over to CAIN and ABEL. "Okay guys, let's go."

"Understood, sir," both CAIN and ABEL replied. Ness noticed that ABEL had replaced the missile that he had used against the small platoon of Starmen inside the Security center. The three then exited the room and continued on their way through the ship.

Meanwhile, George and ADAM were fighting their way through a wave of Mooks and Light Elves, elves that wore majestic clothing and whose skin was so bright and pure that it seemed to glow. George and ADAM unleashed a hail of energy fire against the aliens that were blocking their path. Several Mooks and Light Elves fell amid the hail of energy fire, more enemies began to surge towards the two. ADAM soon extended its left arm and unleashed one of its mini-missiles. The missile streaked towards the wave of enemies and upon reaching them it exploded killing several of the oncoming aliens. George and ADAM's energy rifle and plasma cannon took care of the remaining aliens. George noticed that despite the number of aliens that were attacking, they were not all that difficult to defeat. He began to wonder if this was not just one big trap. After all, the PSI Aliens did tend to view their grunt cannon fodder forces as expendable. They would have no problem sending out armies of grunt soldiers to die to take on a difficult opponent or gauge an enemy's power. George quickly realized that the PSI Aliens knew that George was a powerful psychic, so they were sending forces to engage them and force George to waste his psychic energy on them, rather than on any PSI Aliens that he might face later on. Still, he had expected more capable resistance. Escaping the Flagship had been a lot harder last time than infiltrating this ship had been right now, especially considering that even though he was significantly weaker last time, it seemed as if his enemies right now were also quite weak.

George quickly heard a signal from his communicator. He activated it and heard Ness speak over the comm, "George, I've found Maria. She's on Deck Two, Section Five, in Quarters Two-Four-Three."

"Got it, Ness. I'm on my way." He then took out his map. He checked the map and found that he was not too far away from a turbo lift, and that Maria was not all far away from its exit. This was excellent. Now all he hoped for was for Ness to be close to the Phase Distorter. He then heard Ness speak again. "Hurry. She's fighting a PSI Alien child and she is at best fighting him to a stalemate, so far."

This was not so good. That dream of Maria dying came back into his mind. He knew that Maria was powerful and would not go down without a fight, but Giegue was also powerful. Even as a child, he may well have been a match for a normal adult PSI Alien. He did not know how long Maria would last against a normal PSI Alien. "Got it," he told Ness, and he shut off his communicator so that their conversation would not be picked up and traced back to them. He then increased his pace towards the nearest turbo lift. Fortunately, there were no enemies down this corridor. He and ADAM rushed towards the lift and pushed the button. He waited as the turbo lift came down. As he was waiting, a beam of green energy bounced off the wall above him. He looked to his left and found an Old Robot staring at him. The round, golden humanoid Old Robot was quickly scrapped by ADAM's plasma cannon as it burned a hole in the robot's chest. The robot fell over, reduced to a smoking wreck. The elevator doors then opened for George and ADAM. The two quickly boarded the elevator as more robots of various types were approaching. The doors closed before the robots could reach them and the lift began to take them to Deck Two.

Inside her quarters, Maria went on the offensive against Giygas. She charged the young alien and attempted to bring her beam sword down on Giygas's skull. Maria's plan of attack was easy for Giygas to spot and he brought his sword up to block her blow. A hiss sounded as the two energy blades made contact with each other. Maria quickly riposted with a reverse strike, which Giygas was unable to intercept. The beam sword, however, failed to make contact with Giygas's skin, for Giygas had raised a shield over his body. The beam sword struck the shield and the shield flared when it was struck. The sword bounced off of the shield with a hiss, but Maria was still able to control the blade. It appeared as if Giygas's shield was not a counter shield of any sort. Still, she was beginning to realize that Giygas was a lot more powerful than even she had believed. She had realized who and what he really was years ago, but she never expected his power to become so great so quickly. In a way, this made fighting him at full power easier, but in another way, it was all that much more difficult to fight him. He was still her son, if not biologically then spiritually. Killing him was already going to be difficult. Still, she knew that it had to be done. Giygas's conversations and his sadism demonstrated during this fight were more than enough to show her that he was likely beyond hope. Still, she could still feel that shred of goodness in there somewhere deep beneath the current Giygas. If only she could reach that goodness and bring it to the surface.

Maria backed away and held her beam sword out in front of her. Giygas was quick to charge. "Now it ends!" he cried as he attempted to cleave Maria in half. Despite Giygas's blinding speed, Maria's psychic abilities also allowed her to enhance her own physical capabilities and reflexes. She saw the attack coming and just before the sword managed to strike, she raised a counter shield over her body. The sword bounced off of her shield as if it struck a rubber ball and rebounded towards Giygas. The sword struck Giygas's shield and it flared once more.

"Damn," he muttered. "Why can't I beat Mother? I know I'm stronger than her in psychic power and she was never known as a physical fighter."

Giygas then took a few steps back and began to realize that Maria was using his own hatred and power against him. He was telegraphing his attacks, making it easier for her to intercept them. He was so focused on proving his superiority over her that he was making foolish mistakes, rather than finishing this fight quickly. He then smiled. He knew that it was time to change tactics. He pointed his free hand towards Maria and lightning began to arc around his fingertips. Before Maria could raise a psychic shield, he unleashed a stream of lightning bolts in Maria's direction. Maria managed to catch the bolts of lightning on her beam sword and began taking steps towards Giygas, despite power of the lightning that he was unleashing her way. Each step was more difficult than the last, but she still held firm and was slowly, but surely, making her way towards Giygas. Giygas backed away, seeing that Maria was still able to intercept his lightning with her blade and approach him. This was bad. He had expected Maria to raise a psychic shield or psychic counter shield to protect her from his lightning. Instead, she used the beam sword to catch the lightning. He needed a new strategy, and fast.

Giygas powered down his lightning and soon launched a wave of telekinesis at her. Maria's shield flared as the wave of telekinesis struck her shield. As expected, though, the shield held and Maria did not move. Giygas then decided to try a new tactic. He powered a ball of PSI Fire in his left hand and pointed it at Maria. He quickly sensed Maria raise a psychic counter shield to reflect the attack back at him. He unleashed the ball of PSI Fire directly towards her. The ball of psychic flame struck her shield, which flared for an instant, before being reflected back at him. However, it was too late. He instantly appeared in front of Maria and attempted to behead her with a single swipe of his blade. Maria raised her sword to catch his blow and managed to parry it, sparks erupting from the point of contact between the two energy blades. However, he quickly continued on the offensive, hacking and slashing at her. Despite Maria's abilities, she was slowly giving ground to Giygas. After a few attempts to cleave her, Giygas swung his sword in a downward arc one last time in an attempt to at the very least cleave Maria's right arm. The sword failed to bite into Maria's flesh, but it did manage to strike the hilt of Maria's beam sword. Giygas's beam sword instantly sliced through the metallic hilt of Maria's sword and Maria's beam sword instantly disappeared as a piece of the hilt fell to the ground with a clatter its melted end smoking from the slice. The dropped the rest of the now useless hilt and attempted to raise some sort of shield over her body before Giygas attacked, but Giygas was too quick for her. Giygas performed a spinning back heel kick that managed to catch Maria directly in the head. The impact of the kick snapped her neck to her side and sent her reeling. She fell to the ground a few feet away in a daze. She said a silent prayer of thanks that Giygas had not decided to use his beam sword to strike her. Still, she knew that this fight was coming to an end relatively soon, and that if she did not do something fast, she would lose, for she could already feel her supply of psychic energy diminishing. Giygas then used his own telekinesis to grab Maria. With a single pulling motion, he pulled her to his face. Then, with a sweep of his arm, he sent her flying into a wall, where she collided with the psychic dome, causing it to flare for an instant, and fell to the ground. Maria uttered a second prayer of thanks that he had not taken the opportunity to impale her with his blade. She was now beginning to wonder just how much his heart was really into this fight since he had just had two opportunities to kill her, but instead he decided to start playing with her, rather than going for the quick kill.

Eventually, Giygas grew bored of toying with Maria. "Enough playing around," Giygas proclaimed in a loud voice. "It's time to end this. Don't you agree, Mother?" he asked mockingly as he charged Maria once more, holding his beam sword high in the air. Maria knew that this was it. He was making his final charge. Still, she was not beaten yet. She reached out and unleashed a volley of PSI Thunder at the oncoming Giygas. This attack caught Giygas off guard and he cried out as the lightning struck him and began to arc all over his body. The barrage of lightning also shorted out his beam sword and the energy blade vanished. After a few seconds, the stream of lightning ceased and Giygas collapsed onto the floor, sparks still arcing across his body. Maria took a moment to catch her breath as she tried to muster the will to kill the child who was as close to her as any of her own biological children would be. Still, she knew what he was, and what his purpose was. She began to stand when she noticed that he was also beginning to rise as well. She realized that Giygas had used Lifeup and was preparing to continue the fight. Maria attempted to launch a second barrage of lightning on him, but Giygas was too fast. He raised a psychic shield and the PSI Thunder attack splashed harmlessly against his shield.

Giygas smiled. "You seem to be low on energy," he gloated. "Now, our battle will end."

With that, he held his left hand out in front of him. In it, a green ball of energy began to form. Maria recognized this as PSI Special, a unique attack to Giygas, even though the comprehensible form seemed to be remarkably similar to her PSI Song. Maria sensed Giygas focusing more and more energy into the green ball of psychic energy as it grew in size until it was the size of a beach ball. It then continued to grow. Maria knew that Giygas was powering this ball of Special up to its Omega level. This was confirmed when Giygas cried, "PSI Special Omega!" She knew that she could not create a psychic shield or counter that could stand up to that, especially if he let it land next to her rather than launching it at her directly. She knew only had one option as she fought to focus her own energy while holding back her tears.

"PSI Song Omega," she said in a soft, sad voice. In her right hand, a pulsing blue ball of psychic energy began to form. This was it. The final clash between these two was coming. Both Giygas and Maria's balls of psychic energy grew until they were the size of boulders. The humming of the energy balls echoed throughout the room as wind currents generated by the two massive psychic attacks swept across the faces of the two combatants. The pitch of the hum rose with every second as both Giygas and Maria pushed as much of their energy into their respective attacks as they could. Giygas pointed his blast of energy towards Maria and yelled, "Die!" as he unleashed his attack.

"Forgive me, my son," Maria said in a soft voice as she unleashed her attack upon her adoptive son.

The two attacks did not have far to travel before they collided with each other in midair. The blasts of energy struck each other and tried to move each other. At first, the attacks deformed until they were each semi-spheres. There, the attacks held firm, neither able to budge the other. Pieces of flooring began to crack and rise into the air as the psychic battle raged throughout the room. It was not long before the semi-spheres of energy began to flatten even more, turning into discs. Both Giygas and Maria kept pushing their energy into the attacks, which were now beginning to reach the ceiling. They both knew, though, that eventually, one must give way. But they would go down without a fight. Soon, though, they both began to sense that the energy discs were about to burst forth and unleash all of the psychic energy that they were using against each other. After a few more seconds, both attacks exploded.

The explosion of the attacks blew each of the fighters away from the other and did much more than that. So much energy had been pushed into those attacks that the resulting explosion had managed to collapse the psychic dome that Giygas had erected earlier in the fight. Not only that, but the windows in the suite also shattered. The rush of air was blowing anything that was either not too heavy or not bonded to the floor out into space. In addition, the attack had blown out the exit and a good portion of the wall leading into the corridor as well as vaporizing part of the ceiling. It took a couple of seconds for the emergency force fields to activate, which was sufficient in preventing more of the furniture from being blown into space.

On the second deck of the ship, George and ADAM felt the explosion of Giygas and Maria's power rock the ship. They stumbled a bit as the ship shook before managing to regain their footing. George knew that that explosion could only mean one thing. Maria was in trouble. He and ADAM doubled their speed as they sprinted through the ship, George hoping against hope that he would arrive in time to save Maria.

On his way to the cargo bay, Ness also felt the ship shake. He, along with CAIN and ABEL, stopped for a moment to steady themselves so as not to fall. Ness had a bad feeling about what was going on. Not wasting another moment, Ness and his robot companions continued towards their target, the main cargo bay, which was not too far away according to his map.

On the bridge of the Flagship, Goog felt the ship shake due to the explosion of Giygas and Maria's power. The shaking of the ship caused a couple PSI Aliens that were standing at the time of the explosion to fall to the ground. Goog had to hold onto the arms of his chair to keep himself inside. "What was that?" he called out to the rest of his bridge crew after the shaking had stopped. The rest of the bridge crew quickly went back to their consoles to assess the situation and to see what had just happened. After a few moments one of the PSI Aliens reported back to Goog. "Master, there has been an explosion inside Master Giygas and Maria's quarters. A section of the hull was blown out, as were several walls and the ceiling. There appeared to be a psychic dome in place, so the damage likely would have been greater if the dome had not been in place."

A horrified expression crossed Goog's face. "Are there any life signs left inside the suite?"

After checking his console, the officer replied, "Yes, Master. Two lifeforms have been detected inside the quarters, one PSI Lord, one human."

_Damn_, Goog thought. Maria was still alive. She must have been stronger than he thought. Either that, or Giygas was still unable to bring himself to kill her. He doubted the latter, though. He noticed Giygas's change during their talk. Giygas was now realizing what had to be done. He knew that Maria's continued survival was a threat to him…no, to them all. Still, it was very possible that Maria had hidden a great deal of her power from them and that they had drastically underestimated her abilities. He then turned to the tactical officer, a PSI Alien female, and commanded, "Get Security down to Giygas's quarters at once. He may need reinforcements in order to take out Maria should she be stronger than we believed."

"At once, sir," came the response. She then looked back to her console and issued Goog's orders to the starship's Security forces.

After a few seconds, the tactical officer spoke once more. "Sire, we are receiving no confirmation of your order from the Security office."

This took Goog off guard. "What?" he boomed.

"I just hailed them again," the officer replied. "There was no answer."

"That can't be," Goog said, flustered. This day had started out so good. Now within the space of a few moments, it was crashing down all around him. After calming himself, he ordered, "Get a team down to Security at once and have them report back on what happened."

"Aye, sir," the officer responded. She then left her post, motioning for two PSI Aliens standing near the exit to the bridge dressed in silver armor to accompany her. Goog scowled. So much was resting on Giygas. Their species' continuation was resting on Giygas accepting his destiny and becoming Giegue. He could not afford to lose his son. Not when they were this close.

Back in what was left of Maria's quarters, the room was completely unrecognizable. Piles of rubble littered the remains of the room. Eventually, one of the piles of rubble began to vibrate. Then, the metal on top of the pile fell off, revealing the head of Giygas. The young PSI Lord pushed off a metal plate that had covered him. He slowly rose to his feet, where he stood unsteadily. He felt that he had several burns and some bruised ribs but otherwise, he had no serious injuries. Still, he felt quite winded, for he had pushed a large amount of his energy into his PSI Special Omega. He slowly stepped forward and peered across from him, searching for Maria. He soon found her lying among some metallic debris at the other end of the room. She was not moving and Giygas could see a small puddle of blood seeping out from underneath her, as well as several psychic burns and scratches across her arms, legs, and face. Her dress was practically reduced to rags and shreds of fabric. Giygas grinned. Had he done it? Had he killed Maria? As he began to approach, he saw Maria begin to stir while clutching her side, which prompted Giygas to frown. Blood leaked out from underneath her arm. She slowly began to rise. When she had managed to stand on her own two feet, she fell down to the ground on one knee, coughing up a glob of blood. Giygas grinned once more as Maria looked up at him. Her gaze seemingly pierced him to his soul. It did not matter to him, though. He knew what was expected of him and he finally had the resolve to do it. He sensed that Maria barely had any psychic energy left at all. She then fell to the ground once more and remained there. He grinned again. She was as good as dead now.

Giygas moved towards Maria, grinning sadistically. The time had come. Now, she was going to die. "Any last words?" he asked, savoring each and every word as he gloated over her fallen form.

He did not expect Maria to croak, "Behind you."

He pondered what this meant and as he was pondering, a blast of telekinetic energy sent him flying into the wall opposite Maria. In the newly expanded doorway stood George. Maria almost cried at the sight of her husband. George simply stared at his wife as he noticed the injuries that she had suffered. ADAM broke their reverie by warning them, "There is no time for reunions, sir and madam. Giygas is not beaten!"

As if to accentuate his point, ADAM was thrown into the wall by an enraged Giygas, who had already recovered from the hit he suffered from George. ADAM struck the wall with a thud and fell to the ground. The impact scrambled his circuits for a few moments, but he was otherwise undamaged. He responded to Giygas's attack by launching his two wrist missiles at Giygas. Giygas saw the attack coming a mile away and he raised a counter shield over himself. The missiles bounced off of the shield and rocketed back towards ADAM. The missiles impacted ADAM in his chest and detonated. The first missile's detonation gouged a large hole into ADAM, resulting in a spray of gears and metallic debris. As he was falling back, the second missile flew into the hole created by the first and detonated, blowing ADAM apart. Giygas watched as ADAM's head flew off the remains its body and struck the ground a few meters away, where it rolled a few more meters before coming to a stop. As if to add insult to ADAM's injury, Giygas fired a beam of energy from his hand at ADAM's decapitated head. The beam of energy struck ADAM's head and disintegrated it. "So much for that robot," Giygas commented sarcastically. He then turned to face down George and Maria. Unfortunately, he found that George had used his psychic abilities to heal Maria, for she was no longer bleeding. In fact, all of her injuries seemed to be healed. Not only that, but he found George handing her a cake of some sort. He recognized it as a Magic Tart, something that could be used to replenish one's psychic energy. Maria ate the cake and he could immediately feel her psychic energy begin to rise once more. This was not good. Maria alone had been difficult, and even though she was not back to full strength, her husband, who was no slouch as a psychic either, was now at her side. The fight had now changed drastically. The two humans then assumed a fighter's stance as they prepared to begin the fight anew.

Elsewhere on the ship, the PSI Alien tactical officer and the two Security officers reached the security office. Upon entering, the three of them found the dead remains of the security officers inside the room. The tactical officer took out her communicator and activated it. "Master," she began, "we've reached the security station. The officers inside are all dead. Some look to have been killed by an explosion while others were felled by energy fire."

"Secure the room," Goog commanded over the comm unit. "Then take a team of Last Starmen and Elite PSI Lord warriors to Maria's quarters. I have a bad feeling about what is happening in there."

"I copy, Master," the officer responded. She then ordered the others to contact any unengaged Last Starman and a dozen Elite PSI Lord warriors and have them rendezvous with her and the others at Maria's quarters.

The other officers acknowledged her commands and relayed her orders to all of the parties involved. Soon, they would kill the human intruder and his wife. Little did they know, though, that there was a third human onboard the Flagship.

Meanwhile, Ness, CAIN, and ABEL had finally managed to reach the cargo bay. As the three of them approached the cargo bay doors, the doors slid open to welcome them. The three then entered the bay. Inside the cargo bay they found all types of machinery and vehicles that seemed to be designed for war. Ness quickly noticed two large gray robots standing in the corner, as if they were sentries. He recognized them as R7037s. While they did not appear to be active at the moment, Ness still raised a shield over himself, just in case it was a ruse. After their cursory examination of the main cargo bay to see if there were any enemies present, Ness began to search for the Phase Distorter once they were satisfied that they were alone. He knew, though, that it would not look like the Phase Distorter that he had used to reach Giygas in the past during his previous adventure. He turned to CAIN and asked, "CAIN, do you know what the Phase Distorter looks like?"

"Affirmative," CAIN responded. "It is in the form of a gray sphere with a single glass window on its ingress and egress hatch."

"Thanks," Ness responded. Now that he knew what to look for, he soon began his search for the Phase Distorter in earnest. Machines, experimental and half complete robots littered the bay. It would be difficult for Ness to find anything here. Not only that, but the main cargo bay was huge. After a few minutes of searching, he was still unable to find the Phase Distorter among the masses of metal and machinery. He looked around and soon noticed that the two R7037s that had been standing in the corners of the room were no longer there.

"CAIN, ABEL, be on guard," Ness warned. "I no longer see those R7037s in the corner."

"Understood s…" CAIN began but never managed to complete, for just then a fist impacted the robot and sent it flying. The robot flew into a pile of junk and fell to the floor. CAIN attempted to rise, but the fist of an R7037 crushed the robot, instantly reducing the gold robot to a shattered pile of scrap, gears and cogs shooting out from the crumpled robot beneath the fist. ABEL responded by firing all of four of his missiles at the R7037 that had destroyed CAIN. The four missiles split off into six missiles each. Twenty-four missiles impacted the R7037 in the chest and head and detonated. The explosions inflicted superficial damage to the robot's hull, but inflicted no debilitating damage to the robot. Ness then attempted to raise a shield over ABEL. Unfortunately, before Ness could raise shield over the surviving robot, a pink beam struck the robot in the chest, gouging a massive hole in the torso of ABEL. The silver robot fell to its knees before falling to the floor, face first. The second R7037 then appeared behind Ness, pointing its open palms at Ness. The first R7037 then joined its companion and extended its arms towards Ness. The palms of the hands of the first R7037 then opened. Ness quickly raised a counter shield over his body, knowing what was going to come next.

The robots fired on Ness and four massive beams of pink energy were unleashed upon Ness. The beams struck Ness's shield, which flared for an instant, before being reflected back at the robots. The beams struck the robots in the chest. The metal hulls of the robots melted where the beams made contact with their hulls. Two small furrows now appeared where the beams had made contact with the robots' hulls, but Ness knew that the robots had not suffered any significant damage. Ness knew that as long as his counter shield held, he could survive fighting the two giant robots. Still, he wanted to end this fight quickly, just in case the R7037s had any surprises up their sleeves. Ness quickly focused on the closer of the two robots and raised his hands. Geometric shapes of energy began to form around his hands as the robots fired a second volley of energy beams at Ness. The beams impacted Ness's shield and were rebounded back to the robots. The beams struck the robots and they took a step back due to being struck by their own attack just as Ness unleashed his blast of PSI Rockin at the robots. The blast of Rockin impacted the lead R7037 and detonated in an explosion of sound and light. The explosion completely disintegrated the first R7037 with one hit and the explosion soon washed over the second R7037. While the second R7037 was not vaporized in the blast wave of Ness's Rockin, it had still suffered significant damage. The metal hull of the robot was warped, melted, and cracked in various places all along its body. Ness noticed that the robot's legs had suffered more damage than the other parts of its body, though. As the robot attempted to take a step forward, its right leg snapped off and the robot tumbled to the floor. As it struck the floor, its arms snapped off as well, as did its head. Ness then unleashed a PSI Rockin at the remnants of the fallen R7037. The geometric shapes of Ness's attack struck the robot's wreckage and obliterated the remains of the R7037. With that battle out of the way, Ness continued his search for the Phase Distorter.

On the bridge of the Flagship, Goog was standing at his station when he sensed an incredible psychic power. He quickly turned to the officer manning the tactical station. The expression on the officer's face echoed Goog's. "Tell me where that psychic echo came from!" Goog ordered. Several things were going through his head. Could that power belong to George or Maria? He doubted it. He had sensed the psychic clash between Giygas and Maria, despite the psychic dome. While their power had been great, that had been the power of two people, for both Giygas and Maria had different psychic signatures. This power had been just as strong as Maria's, but was not all that well focused. It seemed immature. Heck, it may not have been the highest level of that power. "Come on!" he cried.

"We're still scanning, Master," came the male tactical officer's fearful response. After a few moments, he spoke again. "We got it Master," he called. "It came from the primary cargo bay."

_The primary cargo bay_? Goog thought. _Oh no_, he thought with dread. The first, and only, Phase Distorter was down there. It had taken the PSI Aliens years to complete that device. It would set their research back a few decades if the Phase Distorter were lost. Not only that, but it was also a good means of making a quick and practically untraceable escape from a tight spot. Then a terrifying thought came to him. _Could George be after the Phase Distorter as well_?

"Security," Goog boomed. "Get everyone you can spare down to the primary cargo bay at once! Do it now!"

A chorus of acknowledgements were his only response. He then ordered two PSI Aliens to follow him as he made his way off the bridge and down to the primary cargo bay. He did not know who or what this psychic force belonged to, but it could rival the power of a weak PSI Alien. He did not want to imagine the prospect of this psychic being young. He had to kill this psychic before he could harm the PSI Lords.

In the main cargo bay, Ness continued his search for the Phase Distorter. He had to do it quickly, for he suspected that the aliens would be able to sense his psychic attacks on the R7037s. Fortunately, it did not take Ness very long to find the Phase Distorter, though, for it was located in the corner of the room. It was exactly as CAIN had described it: a gray sphere with a glass window on its hatch, which was already down. Ness quickly scanned the area of the cargo bay near the Phase Distorter for enemies. He did not know how durable the machine was and he did not want any unwelcome surprises. Ness could not find any enemies nearby, and none of the machines that were in the cargo bay looked to be autonomous robots. Satisfied that there was no further danger, the psychic teen quickly rushed towards the machine and entered.

Upon entering the machine, he sat down in the pilot's seat of the machine. In front of the pilot's station there was a console. It seemed to be quite like an arcade. The issue now was for Ness to decipher the button labels, since they were written in an alien language. He began to wish that CAIN or ABEL had managed to survive, for he had the feeling that the robots would have been able to pilot the device. He even began to wonder if the reason the R7037s had targeted the robots rather than him was because the robots may have been able to decipher the alien language and destroying them would have trapped him here. He stopped his musing when he heard the cargo bay doors open. He quickly went over to the hatch and closed it. He then closed off his mind in order to try to block a telepathic scan, for out of the corner of his eye he saw several feline-like humanoid aliens enter the bay. They _had_ sensed his PSI Rockin attack on the giant robots. He then pushed various buttons, hoping that he would be able to activate the machine. A hum soon sounded throughout the machine. What luck, he had managed to start the machine. He soon saw arcs of electricity play out over the cockpit window of the Phase Distorter. It was not long before the image of the cargo bay outside the window vanished entirely.

Outside the machine, Goog had managed to see and hear the Phase Distorter's hatch clang shut. He attempted to scan the inside of the machine, but the mind inside the machine was strong. He knew that whoever was inside the machine was a powerful psychic, but he could find nothing else about the Phase Distorter's occupant, and possible thief. He then heard the machine begin to hum. Its occupant had activated the Phase Distorter. Electricity arced across the hull of the Phase Distorter. Goog gritted his teeth. Decades of work were about to be ruined because a thief had managed to find this one vital experiment. He knew that his only option to force a confrontation with this psychic was to destroy the Phase Distorter before it disappeared. He powered a blast of PSI Thunder and hurled it towards the Phase Distorter. However, just as he launched the blast of lightning, the Phase Distorter disappeared. His volley of lightning blasted through the void where the Phase Distorter had been and continued until it bore a hole through the wall of the main cargo bay and continued into outer space. Air immediately began to rush out the opening into space, drawing all sorts of loose debris into space. It took only a couple of seconds for the emergency force field to activate and close off the area to outer space. Still, Goog knew that whoever had taken the Phase Distorter had disappeared, along with the prized craft. Goog and the others then retreated through the doors of the cargo bay and returned to the bridge of the ship.

Inside the wreckage that had once been Maria's quarters, George and Maria were pushing Giygas to his limit. Ever since George had arrived and healed Maria, she had gotten the better of him in the psychic battle, and it was beginning to show; his body bruised, sweaty, and covered with small psychic burns. Still, the battle was not over yet. Giygas launched a volley of PSI Thunder towards George, hoping that Maria would intercept the blast and sacrifice herself to save her husband. She did just as he anticipated and appeared in front of George. Unfortunately, for Giygas, Maria caught the lightning in her hands. The lightning congealed into balls of electricity as Maria added her own lightning to the mix and sent the blast back at Giygas. The return volley struck Giygas in the chest and sent him flying through the air and back through the hole in the wall that was now the exit to Maria's quarters.

Giygas was slow to rise as his strength began to wane. He quickly saw George begin to approach him, powering an attack, but Maria grabbed his shoulder. "No," begged him. "There's still good in him. I know. He could have killed me outright at least a couple of times in this fight, but he didn't."

"He certainly seemed close enough to accomplishing that goal when I found you," George retorted. "You know how dangerous he is. If we don't stop him here and now, what do you think he'll do to Earth?"

Maria frowned. She knew that George was right. Giygas was dangerous. He had almost killed Maria during the fight. If George had not arrived, she would have certainly died. Still, Giygas was her son. The thought of killing him made her sick. Still, she knew the danger he posed, and that his threat against the Earth was quite real. She then began to approach her son along with her husband. Giygas then steeled himself against whatever assault George and Maria were about to bring.

As the two humans were approaching, reinforcements arrived for Giygas. Googi, his younger brother, two other PSI Alien warriors sporting activated Beam Swords, as well as a platoon of Starmen of various sorts and Mega Borgs arrived and flanked Giygas. "Are you alright, Master Giygas?" one of the PSI Alien warriors asked as he approached Giygas and used Lifeup on him, his voice showing concern for the young PSI Alien.

Giygas's only response was, "I am no longer Giygas, Hiega. I am Giegue."

That was all the answer that Hiega needed. "Very well, Master Giegue," Hiega responded.

The team then turned and prepared to do battle with George and Maria. The tables had turned once more. Giygas grinned. "You should have killed me when you had the chance, Mother," he sneered. Giygas knew that with these reinforcements he would be able to kill both George and Maria. Googi quickly took the time to gaze at Maria and shake his head.

"Man, it's such a pity that such a hot woman has to die like this," he mocked, doing his best to disgust Maria as much as possible. Maria's subsequent scowl merely caused Googi to laugh. "Well, I may as well enjoy it," Googi finished with a sadistic grin.

However, before either side could engage the other, a spherical object appeared between the two parties. Giygas and Googi were shocked at the appearance of the object, which they recognized as the Phase Distorter. "The Phase Distorter," Hiega said inquisitively. "What's it doing here?"

On the other side of the Phase Distorter, George smiled as the entry hatch lowered to let the two humans onboard. "Quickly, get onboard now, while the enemy is still surprised," Ness called.

Giygas noted that the voice that had spoken sounded human, but was not either George or Maria. He began to wonder who the speaker was. He went to scan the speaker, but his mind was sealed. The unknown human had strong psychic defenses.

Both George and Maria quickly ran up the ramp and boarded the Phase Distorter. Four Last Starmen went over to try to stop the two humans from boarding the Phase Distorter. Ness quickly responded by using a blast of PSI Rockin in its Beta form, which would be more than sufficient for dealing with these Starmen. A few geometric shapes of psychic energy instantaneously rocketed towards the onrushing Last Starmen and exploded among them. The explosion of sound and light instantly vaporized the two leading Last Starmen while the remaining Last Starmen were thrown to either side. Their smoking bodies of the two Starmen landed a ways away from the Phase Distorter, both of them dead. The hatch to the Phase Distorter then closed. Onboard, Maria's eyes were wide in shock at the level of Ness's power for a human at such a young age.

Maria's reaction was echoed by the other PSI Aliens and Starmen present. Googi's eyes were wide in shock at the power of the unknown psychic. Googi highly doubted that such a powerful psychic could be human. No human had that level of power. At least, no human besides Maria, though she had only gotten that strong by being with the PSI Lords for such a long time. Googi looked over towards Giygas, who was merely staring at the Phase Distorter.

Onboard the Phase Distorter, George quickly took the pilot's seat from Ness, who was all too happy to be relieved of it, and told everyone, "Hang on, everyone. We're getting out of here." George then pushed a red button and Ness could see the lightning arcing across the glass window of the hatch. He looked over to Maria, who was studying him intently.

Outside the Phase Distorter, the PSI Aliens and their servant soldiers watched as electricity began to arc across the hull of the Phase Distorter, a prelude to its activation. Googi used its small charge up time to unleash a blast of his PSI Special at the Phase Distorter. However, before it could strike the craft, Giygas launched a Special attack of his own and deflected Googi's blast into the ceiling, where it continued to rise and continued until bore its way through the hull and out into space where it detonated. The Phase Distorter then vanished into thin air. George, Maria, and the unknown psychic had escaped.

"What the hell was that, _Lord Giegue_?" Googi angrily roared mockingly.

"You overcharged your attack!" Giygas yelled back. "Had that attack exploded, it would have destroyed a good portion of the ship!"

"I had control of it," Googi countered.

Giygas scoffed. "You have no control over anything you do that's destructive," Giygas said harshly. "You don't even know the meaning of the word."

While they were still arguing, Goog had arrived with his retinue. Looking at the devastation, as well as his two sons arguing, his voice boomed over the din. "What happened here? Did you kill Maria and George?"

"No, Father," Giygas responded in a cold, hard voice. "They managed to escape with the help of an unknown psychic using the Phase Distorter."

Goog gasped. This was even worse than he had thought. Googi then barged in, yelling, "I almost managed to kill them, but 'Gague', here, stopped my attack, deflecting it out into space."

"Your attack would have blown up half the ship!" Giygas retorted. "We still need air to breathe."

"I had it under control!" Googi countered.

"Enough!" Goog roared. Both Giygas and Googi turned to their father. Soon, Goog's expression softened. "What's done is done." He then turned to face Giygas. "My son, you have fulfilled the final test."

This statement shocked Giygas. "But how?" he gasped. "I failed to kill Maria. She and her husband are still alive and have escaped. PSI could still spread on Earth. In fact, it is likely that it _will_ spread to Earth."

"We can deal with that later," Goog assured his son with a smile. "What matters now is that you would have killed her without the interference. The injuries that you had inflicted on her were severe, possibly fatal. If George had not arrived, you would have killed her. I know it."

Goog then smiled again and ushered his older son to come with him. Giygas joined his father and was followed by Goog, then the two PSI Alien warriors, next Goog's retinue, and finally by the servant soldiers of the PSI Aliens.

It was not long before Giygas found himself on the bridge of the Flagship once more. There, Goog assumed his station in front of the captain's chair. He motioned for his son to join him, which Giygas did. He then turned to his sensor officer and commanded, "Report."

"Master, we have taken onboard all of our fighters and transports. All collaborators have been brought onboard."

"Good, then commence lunar destruction."

"Understood," everyone on the bridge responded. With that, the PSI Aliens rose from their stations and proceeded towards the window. It was then that they placed their hands over the window of the ship. If one had been in the hallways of the other ships, they would have seen all PSI Aliens in the fleet doing the same thing. Those who were not near a window merely sat and focused their energy outside the hulls of the ships in the fleet. Dozens of green orbs began to form in the emptiness of space. First dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. It was a mass Starstorm barrage. Every PSI Alien joined in the attack. After the green orbs had formed, the PSI Alien race hurled them down onto Ranul. The green orbs of psychic energy rained down upon the surface of the moon. While each individual star was insufficient to have its effect be seen from orbit, though they were powerful enough to destroy a small village, the thousands of stars that were raining down onto Ranul soon showed their effects as Ranul began to transform itself from a green jewel full of life, to a brown, barren wasteland. Giygas could hear the psychic cries of the people of Ranul. He looked around and saw his father and younger brother grinning sadistically. He even began to hear his father begin to laugh. He just stood there, directing his stars onto already destroyed portions of the moon. A sad look crossed Giygas's face as the rain of destruction continued. He finally realized that this was not what he wanted. Ranul had never been a threat to them. Why was his father so intent on killing them? Was this what it meant to be a PSI Lord? After an hour, the horrific bombardment was over. Ranul had been reduced to a brown, barren cinder. Goog went over to his son and took him to the captain's chair. He waited for the rest of the PSI Aliens to assume their stations. Once they had, he said, "Today, my son, you are a true PSI Lord. And your new name is Giegue. You are now in charge of the fleet." He then turned and proclaimed, "All hail Lord Giegue!"

"All hail Lord Giegue!" the rest of the bridge crew echoed in response. "All hail Lord Giegue! All hail Lord Giegue!"

His father then went over to him once more and whispered, "You know what your mission is, don't you."

Giygas nodded. "Yes, father. My mission is to prevent the spread of PSI on planet Earth." He paused before adding. "I shall begin making plans immediately."

"You won't have to worry about that right now," Goog told him. "We won't reach Earth for a time. Besides, there are other threats we need to contend with."

"Yes, I know," Giygas responded. "The Magic Lords, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, are still out there waging war on us, but they are of little concern right now. I cannot let PSI spread onto Earth."

Goog smiled. "Okay, son. But at least let me deal with the Dragon Lords until the time is right for us to strike at Earth."

"Very well, Father," Giygas replied.

Goog waited for a moment before saying, "Oh, one more thing, Giegue."

"What is it?"

"When the Phase Distorter separated you and your reinforcements from George and Maria, could you sense a third psychic presence onboard the craft?"

"Yes," Giygas responded.

"Could you identify the species of the unknown psychic?"

Giygas thought about his answer for a moment before responding in as natural a tone as possible, "No. I was unable to identify the species of the unknown psychic," which was partially true. Goog nodded.

Goog then proceeded to leave the bridge. Giygas then went over to the window and looked out into space as the fleet was preparing to jump into hyperspace. He wondered if anyone knew that he had actually let Maria escape and that he strongly suspected the other psychic as being human.


	13. Ness Chapter 4

Ness – Chapter 4:

Back on Earth, the Phase Distorter reappeared on the bank of Mt. Itoi Lake. After it appeared, the hatch lowered and Ness and Maria stepped out of the craft, followed closely by George. After disembarking from the craft, George approached Ness and said, "Ness, the Phase Distorter only has enough fuel for one more jump, since traveling through time takes more energy than traveling through space. Also, the Phase Distorter also has a tracking device built into it. I have managed to turn off the tracking device while the craft is powered down, but it has a backup. If the craft is reactivated, the tracking device will reactivate. If they are searching for the Phase Distorter when you return, you will likely be attacked."

"I understand," Ness told them. "Don't worry about me, though. I can take care of myself."

"I see that you can," Maria commented. She approached Ness and took him aside for a moment. "I can sense amazing power inside of you," Maria told him.

Ness did not know whether it was just a comment or a compliment. "Uh, thanks, I think," he responded.

"But as of yet, that power is wild, untamed," she continued. "You have a lot of natural talent inside of you, and you have undoubtedly worked hard to control your power. You would not be as strong as you are, or even alive for that matter, if you did not."

Ness did not respond. He had a feeling he knew where she was going with this line of conversation, though. "The wild nature of your power, particularly your PSI Special, or whatever you call it…"

"Rockin," Ness filled in for Maria.

"…Rockin is not very well controlled or utilized efficiently. You waste a lot of energy in its use. This is likely a result of having little to no formal training in the use of your power."

"I guess," Ness shrugged. "I haven't had any formal lessons before. My psychic friends have taught me some things from time to time, and I train on my own, but I've never had a formal lesson before. Are you offering me a lesson?"

Maria nodded. "Not just a lesson, Ness, a whole course."

Ness took a step back. This took Ness by surprise. "Thanks, but I really have to get going," he started. "The last thing I remember is being in Onett when a beam washed over me and my friends and family. I have to go look for them and…"

Maria cut off Ness with a raise of her hand. "Don't worry about time," she assured Ness. "This course will take place in a realm of the mind called Magicant." A look of comprehension crossed Ness's face. He remembered his own Magicant from his first adventure. Maria then continued, "There, we can make minutes or hours turn into days, weeks, or even months. An hour could go by here, while a month could go by in Magicant. After all, Magicant, in reality, is nothing more than a dream."

"But I'll remember everything about the course? All of the training that I receive in Magicant will carry over into the real world?" Ness asked.

"Of course. We're both psychics, after all. Dreams are a product of the mind, and psychic power comes from one's mind, regardless of whether it's telepathy, telekinesis, energy manipulation or control, precognition, or any other myriad of other psychic powers."

"Excellent," Ness exclaimed. "When can we start?"

"Whenever you're ready," Maria replied.

"I'm ready now," Ness said excitedly. His excitement was showing all over his face.

Maria smiled. "Excellent. Now just look deep into my eyes."

Ness followed her instruction and gazed deeply into Maria's eyes. She quickly responded to his gaze with her own. It was then that both Ness and Maria closed their eyes. They wobbled where they stood for a few seconds before they both began to fall. George reached out with his mind and caught the two of them and lowered them gently to the ground. There he stood watch over his wife, and the boy who had helped him rescue her.

Ness awoke to find himself in a strange land. Surrounding him was a strange, pinkish alien landscape unlike anything he had ever seen before. Ness figured that this was Magicant, but it was radically different from the Magicant he remembered entering during the War Against Giygas. Ness took a step and found the ground soft to the touch. Looking down it seemed as if he was standing on pinkish clouds. Looking around, he saw all manner of strange creatures from cats swimming in the ground, to white conical seashell-like houses. Standing in front of him was Maria, but she looked different from before. Whereas Maria had once been clad in a tattered old dress that had gone through a war, here she was dressed in a regal pink dress that covered her from neck to ankles. On her head, she wore a golden crown with a green gem in the middle. She looked radiant, as if she had just awakened on a beautiful spring morning, rather than just barely escaped with her life from the fight of her life. Behind Maria was a magnificent castle that looked like it was constructed out of pinkish-white clouds.

"This is Magicant," Maria explained. "It is a realm inside the mind."

"I know," Ness said. Looking around once more, he added, "It certainly looks different than before."

"That's probably because we're inside _my_ Magicant," Maria replied. "Here, I will teach you how to use your psychic powers to their greatest effect without wasting any psychic energy. You are already strong. Now it's time for you to utilize your strength properly."

Maria guided Ness around her Magicant. While doing so, she pointed out all of the important areas: her castle, various houses, the Crystal Caverns, and areas where enemies lurked. She approached one of these areas, which was outside the small town area, but seemed indistinguishable from the town itself on the surface. There, she told him, "This area has a number of enemies, which can be seen. Here is where you will train against 'live' targets. These enemies are created from my mind, though, so don't worry too much. You won't be hurting me or any real creatures." She then took him back into town. "You are strong, Ness, but as I've stated before, you lack formal training, which will help you learn to utilize your full power without wasting energy. You will likely gain some strength in the process as well."

She then took him inside the castle. The inside of the castle had a green jewel-like floor in a hallway with green walls that appeared to be made of jade. There were two doors on their right. Maria led them through the far door and they soon found themselves in a second room with two more entry arches. She led them through the first of the arches and Ness found himself in a room that was carpeted with a luxurious red carpet. Maria quickly walked towards the throne at the far end of the carpet. Ness followed Maria and as she reached the throne, she turned to face him.

"Here is where we will begin your training," she told him. "First off, I need to get an accurate measurement of your power and gauge how much energy you are using in your attack. Now, use your special psychic attack at its maximum power. Don't worry about me or the castle, I can survive the attack and repair any damage you inflict on the castle. Now, show me your strength."

Ness then stepped back and raised his hands above his head. He cried out, "PSI Rockin Omega!" Immediately, geometric shapes formed around his hands. He then lowered his arms and aimed them at a section of the throne room's wall behind Maria. He then unleashed his attack upon the wall. The geometric shapes hurtled towards the wall. As they traveled to the wall, a series of high-to-low pitched sounds echoed throughout the chamber until the shapes impacted the wall and exploded in a burst of sound and light. The explosion tore apart the wall behind Maria and vaporized part of the ceiling and floor. The damage was quite extensive and it continued to spread. The explosion washed over Maria, who seemed to be unaffected by the attack as a shield flared over her body.

Eventually, the light dissipated and the sound ceased. When Ness looked at the wall, he found that it had already been repaired. Maria stood in front of her throne, focusing her attention on Ness.

"You are powerful indeed," she said approvingly. She then smiled. "Now let's teach you how to use your power without wasting all that energy."

Ness was not surprised that he was wasting energy, but he was curious as to how much energy he was wasting with each attack. "So, how was I?" he asked.

Maria laughed kindly. "While you were better than I thought you'd be for someone who had not taken a formal lesson, you still used at least twice the amount of energy that was required for that attack to deliver the damage that it did. I could easily teach you to only use half the energy that you normally use for each and every one of your techniques."

Ness then approached Maria and asked, "So what do I do first?"

"First, I will teach you to focus your energy more efficiently. Then, I will set up a series of tests for you to perform. The lessons will probably take about a month to complete, Magicant time, assuming you progress as quickly as I suspect you will." Ness nodded. That gave him a target time. He vowed to himself that he would complete the course in that month. Marua then continued, "We'll begin our lessons in one hour, but first, I'll want to show you to your room."

With that, she showed Ness around the castle and to his room. She motioned for Ness to enter the room and get accustomed to it before she began his lessons. He looked around the room and found a king-sized bed covered with blue quilts and pillows. There was night table next to the bed with a clock on the stand. A dresser lined one of the walls across from the bed. Ness went over to the dresser and pulled it open. There, he found fresh sets of clothes, all of them identical to his current uniform. He also noticed several gift boxes lining the floor. He went over to each box and checked its contents. Inside, he found an antidote for poison, a Secret Herb, and a PSI Stone. Even though he had never seen or used a PSI Stone before, he knew that it was used to restore psychic energy. He kept the items stored in the boxes. He did not think that he would need such items at this time. After he saw that everything was in order, he left his room and returned to Maria.

Upon entering the throne room, Maria turned to face him. "Are you ready to begin?" she asked.

"Yes," Ness replied.

"Okay," she began. "First, I'll teach you how to properly control your telekinesis so that its use can become as natural as walking or talking."

She then conjured a table with a small wooden stick on top of it. She instructed Ness to lift the stick using his telekinesis. He did so and the stick quickly rose into the air. She then psychically produced a line of fire a few meters into the air. She then instructed, "Keep the stick in the fire until it is consumed by the flames. Be warned, though, this stick is special. If it leaves the flames, it will instantly regenerate." She then stepped back and added, "To give you some extra motivation to complete this exercise, you will not be able to progress and have anything to eat until you reduce that stick to ashes."

"I got it," Ness replied. He was confident that this test would not be all that difficult. He then lifted the stick into the flame and did his best to keep it there at least until it caught on fire. It was a lot harder than he initially believed. There were several times when the stick dipped out of the fire or wobbled so that some edges escaped the edges of the flame. He quickly found that it required more control than he thought it would. He also noticed Maria smiling mischievously at him. He then began to wonder if she was purposefully making it more difficult in order for him to learn faster. For the better part of an hour, he tried to get the stick to burn, but he kept meeting with failure. He would either become distracted, or become tired and a part of the stick would leave the fire and instantly regenerate. It took him several more tries to burn the stick to the point where it fell apart and to the floor, where it collapsed into a pile of ashes. After Ness completed the test, Maria said, "Good. You may be surprised to hear this but it took me a while longer to complete this test. Don't get cocky, though," she warned. "This is only the first test. But now, I think you could use some dinner."

Ness heartily agreed, for he was currently famished. The test to keep that stick in the flames had taken its toll on him, not only psychically, but also physically since he used his own energy as a source for his telekinetic power in that exercise. He followed Maria into a large dining hall where they sat at an opulent golden table for dinner, which was served by several human-like servants. Ness was served a steak, cooked medium-rare, just the way he liked it, and Maria was served a chicken dish. Ness's steak tasted magnificent and he could feel his physical and psychic strength returning to him. He did not make much conversation with Maria during the meal since he was still thinking about his training. He was surprised at how difficult that first test had been. Still, he wanted to do his best to pass all of the tests and train in the use of his powers. The small bits of conversations were merely him asking questions about future tests and powers that he might awaken, and Maria answering his questions seemingly half way.

After dinner was complete, Maria took him back to his room and created a line of fire in midair in the corner of his room, as well as giving him numerous regenerating sticks. She told him, "Your homework tonight will be to burn all of these sticks to cinders." Ness resisted the urge to groan at the sound of homework. "When you wake up tomorrow, I'll give you your first real test. You also won't get any breakfast until you pass the test. The test will be simple. Burn a stick in the line of flame and reduce it to cinders within one minute. It must be done to perfection, since one minute is the absolute lowest amount of time it will take to burn the particular stick that you will be using for your homework, as well as for your test tomorrow. Not only that, but there will be a limit to the psychic energy that you are allowed to use." She then conjured a helmet into her hand. "This will limit the amount of psychic energy you can use per attempt. When you are successful, you will be fully restored to the point where you can try it again. Do you understand?"

Ness nodded. Maria then left him to practice for the test tomorrow. After Maria left, Ness resisted the urge to complain to himself, knowing that it would only serve to ensure his failure. Throughout the night, Ness trained in controlling the stick so that it burned in as little time as possible. It was a lot more difficult than the earlier test had been. He tried over a dozen times before he managed to completely burn his first stick. He was elated when the stick was finally reduced to ashes, which fell to the ground and promptly disappeared. He then tried it again, but failed. A subsequent attempt, though, met with success once more. Ness continued to practice throughout the night until he could practically do it in his sleep. By the time he felt he was ready for the test, he went to sleep for the two hours that remained before dawn.

When dawn came, Ness was awakened to the crowing of a rooster, signaling that dawn had come. He quickly changed into new clothes and hurried down to the throne room where Maria was waiting. Upon entering, he saw a line of fire a few meters above the floor. Maria presented him with a stick and placed the helmet on Ness's head and began the test. Ness lifted the stick into the fire and held it steady where it caught on fire and began to burn. It was not long before it was completely consumed by the flames and reduced to ashes in the minute that was the time limit. He was ecstatic. He had gotten it on his first try. Maria beamed as the ashes of the stick fell to the floor and disappeared.

Upon completion of the test, Maria came over to Ness and congratulated him on passing her first test. She then told him that their training had only begun and that after he ate his breakfast, she would take him outside for him to take his next test. She then dismissed him for the morning. After Ness was dismissed, he went back to his room to prepare his breakfast. When he entered the room, he saw that it had already been provided for him. It consisted of toast with bacon and eggs and milk. Once he was finished, and after he had washed up, even though he did not know whether or not he would need to in a place like Magicant, he rejoined Maria in the throne room, who took him outside to give him his next test. Ness's next test was to be able to keep the stick in the flames while Maria moved the flames. Ness passed this test without too much difficulty. After passing the test, Maria left Ness to train in various areas of Magicant.

Day after day, the routine was set. Ness would train for most of the day, only stopping to recover his strength when absolutely necessary, and for meals which were provided by Maria's staff. In her Magicant, Maria was referred to as Queen Mary, a title that she did not object to in the slightest. There were several points in the day where Maria would give Ness various tests to test his telekinetic abilities. He passed them all with flying colors.

Next, was teaching Ness how to control his PSI Rockin at the various levels. Maria provided several lessons for Ness, each of them teaching him how to control the energy he used and teaching him not to waste energy. Ness found that the lessons and abilities learned from each previous lesson had greatly assisted him the next. It was not long before he was throwing around PSI Rockin Omegas with only half of the energy that he had initially been using.

About a week into the training, Maria decided that it was time to teach Ness how to fully focus his PSI Rockin into a coherent blast of concentrated psychic energy. At first, she had Ness form the geometric shapes in his hands and then had him try to condense them into a ball. This would allow Ness to condense the energy and allow it to inflict more damage on individual targets, as well as making the attack, itself, more powerful. Ness caught on quickly, and in less than three days, his PSI Rockin had taken on a new form. It was now a ball of pulsing scarlet energy that exploded into a red globe of energy upon striking its target, much like Maria's PSI Song.

Maria's final test for Ness's newly completed Rockin was to clash it against her Song. The two quickly powered up their attack to their maximum power. It was not long before the attacks reached their maximum power, with Ness's being merely the size of a grapefruit, while Maria's was the size of a small boulder. Once the red and blue balls of psychic energy had formed and reached their maximum power, the two released them at one another. The two balls of psychic energy collided in midair and there they remained, suspended for a time. However, Ness's smaller ball soon began to make an indent on Maria's larger boulder of psychic energy and push it back towards her. She then focused more energy into her ball in order to push back against Ness's attack. However, her efforts yielded little success, for Ness quickly added more energy to his own attack. Eventually, Ness ball of Rockin breached Maria's ball of Song and her ball of Song exploded in a magnificent display of light. Ness's Rockin continued towards Maria, but Ness dispelled the ball before it struck Maria. Maria stood in awe at Ness's power. He had passed the test, but she also began to study Ness once more. She quickly realized that Ness had not used his full power in that clash. He was still subconsciously holding back some of his power. And from what Maria could tell, it was a great deal of power, for Ness had only used PSI Rockin at its full Gamma level. It was even likely that he had always only been using it at its full Gamma level, only he never realized it and had always believed it to be Rockin's Omega level. If that had been the case, then she realized that if Ness ever realized his full power, he might even be able to defeat a PSI Alien one-on-one without any backup if he learned how to use his powers effectively.

After the test, she went over to Ness. Ness also came over to her and asked, "So, how did I do?"

She hesitated before answering. Eventually, she said, "You passed, as evidenced by the overpowering of my psychic attack." But Ness could tell that she hesitated in giving her answer, and what she was not saying was more telling. Ness also felt the block in his mind over using Rockin at its true Omega level. But the truth was that Rockin's Omega level of power seemed to be incomprehensible to him. He also guessed that he was a little scared of having access to such a great amount of power. He knew that another trip back into his own Magicant may be in order not too long from now. Still, he would cross that bridge when he came to it. Now, he wanted to learn more about controlling his other psychic powers.

"So what's next?" Ness asked eagerly.

"Now, we'll train in the use of your secondary abilities," Maria responded.

That training also took another week or so to complete. Ness had learned to better control and increase the effectiveness of his PSI Flash attack and his Paralysis and Hypnosis attacks, as well as his Shield and Healing abilities. Maria had launched a series of attacks on Ness and had directed him to train by facing several enemies that were outside the town of Magicant and inside the Crystal Cavern. After a week of almost constant training, Ness felt stronger and better equipped than ever. At the end of this training session Ness was able to use Shield Sigma and Shield Omega, as well as Healing Omega. The last lesson that Maria taught Ness was how to charge his bat with psychic energy. This was easy for Ness to learn and after a few hours of practice, he was practically a professional at doing so. Now, Ness felt as if he was ready to return to the outside world. Maria had other ideas, though.

Maria took Ness aside and told him, "Ness, you have surpassed all of my expectations. I really did not expect you to be able to utilize three new psychic techniques, even if they are merely more advanced levels of psychic techniques that you already knew. Now, though, it is time to put your training to the test. You've faced weak enemies so far in your training, but now, I think that it is time to take you to the Crystal Caverns once more."

"What's inside the Crystal Caverns?" Ness asked.

Maria grinned knowingly as she replied, "Your final test before you return to the outside world. You should scour the castle for any and all items that you can use for your fight. This will be the toughest of the tests."

Ness followed Maria's instructions and rushed back to his room inside Maria's castle. He then took out the Antidote, the Secret Herb, and the PSI Stone from their respective boxes and placed them in his pocket. After taking the items from his room, he explored the rest of the castle, seeking to find any items that would be useful. Most of the boxes contained useless items such as protractors and rulers, but a couple contained some useful items, a Secret Herb and a PSI Stone respectively. After storing these items in his pockets, he returned to Maria outside the castle. He then followed Maria into the Crystal Caverns, where he would face his final test.

Once they arrived in the Crystal Caverns, led him down the path of ladders to the next section of the cave. Each room had two ladders that led to different areas. Following Maria, Ness climbed down each ladder knowing that Maria would lead him on the correct path. Along the way, a few enemies that were sets of eyes, as well as a blue face with a smaller figure on top called Ullrich. Ness dispatched these enemies with contemptuous ease and he proceeded to follow Maria until the last ladder led them into what appeared to be a maze.

Upon reaching the maze, Maria turned back to Ness and said, "At the center of this maze will be your final test. You must do this on your own. I will remain here until you complete it."

Ness nodded and proceeded to enter the maze. Inside, he found that the maze's pathways were quite wide. There were also not lot of alternate paths to consider. He walked down a path until he found a dead end and turned to his left to find another path leading back around parallel to the way he had come. This pathway did not continue for very long and soon, Ness found a path to the right, as well as an opening in the wall to his left. He chose the left path and turned. He then took another left to see what was behind the wall and there he saw a dragon sleeping on the floor. Ness could tell, though, that the dragon only pretended to be asleep. He approached the dragon and its eyes opened and it began to stand. The dragon was the stereotypical dragon that Ness was familiar with from fantasy books and movies. It was orange in color and had two horns on its head. As the dragon stood, it spread its wings and gave off a loud roar. "Welcome Ness, I am the Dragon of Magicant," the Dragon boomed. "I am your final test here. Defeat me in battle and you will have passed all of your tests. Be warned, though, I will not be easy to defeat."

"I hope you aren't," Ness replied with a grin, eager to begin this test.

"Confident, aren't you?" the Dragon noted with a wry grin. "I'll have to do something about that. PSI Fire!" it cried out in a loud voice.

Instantly, a ball of fire the size of a grapefruit erupted from the dragon's outstretched hand. Ness could tell that this was the Omega form of PSI Fire just from the heat that it produced. Ness dove to one side in order to avoid the oncoming ball of flame, and charged towards the Dragon. The ball of flame struck the ground a dozen meters away and went off like a bomb. The explosion had a radius of at least eight meters and inside that globe of flame, nothing would be able to survive for long. Ness gasped. If that attack had managed to connect, or if he had not run away anticipating an explosion, he would have suffered significant damage from that attack. Ness then turned to face the Dragon. It was time he put his training to use.

Ness began his counterattack by powering a scarlet ball of PSI Rockin to its "Omega" level. After the ball of energy was charged to its full power, Ness unleashed it upon the Dragon. The Dragon flew into the air to try to avoid the attack, but that would help him escape Ness's attack. Ness used his telekinesis to guide the attack towards the Dragon. No matter where the Dragon flew, Ness's ball of Rockin kept pace with the Dragon. Eventually, it managed to strike the Dragon and exploded into a globe of scarlet energy, engulfing the Dragon. After a few seconds, the field of energy dissipated and the Dragon fell back to the ground, where it crashed only a few yards in front of Ness, throwing up a cloud of dust. The Dragon looked quite ragged from the attack, with numerous burns and cuts to its wings, as well as showing several heavily damaged scales.

"Amazing," the Dragon gasped slowly. "To be felled in only one attack, and to not even manage to strike you once. You are truly impressive, Ness. You have passed the final test." With that, the Dragon then went back to sleep. Ness noticed that the Dragon instantly healed all of its injuries before going back to sleep.

Ness turned and found Maria standing behind him, beaming a smile towards him. "Incredible," she said quietly. "Absolutely incredible. You have passed each and every test with flying colors." She then walked forward toward Ness and said, "It is now time to return to the outside world." She then gazed into his eyes and Magicant disappeared.

Ness awoke to find himself back at the edge of Mt. Itoi Lake, not too far away from the Phase Distorter. He looked over and found George standing over him. He looked over to Maria and saw that she had awakened as well and was already rising. He rose as well, and quickly noticed that the items that he had gained inside of Magicant had disappeared. He turned to George and asked, "How long were we out?"

"Almost one hour," George replied. Turning to his wife, he asked, "So, how did it go?"

"Ness passed with ease," Maria responded. "He defeated the Magicant Dragon with only one blast of his unique psychic attack, something he calls PSI Rockin."

George whistled as his eyes went wide. "Wow," he said incredulous. For the first time, he had an inkling of just how powerful Ness was, and just how powerful Ness could become. He remembered when he had first taken the Magicant test. He had eventually defeated the Magicant Dragon, but it had been a long and difficult battle. Ness had casually cast it aside like a twig that had landed on his shirt. "Well, I guess that there isn't much more we can do for you, is there," George said.

Maria then called over to Ness, "Wait. Before you go, there is something you should learn…should you face Giygas in the future. A song."

"A song?" Ness asked, not liking the prospect.

"Yes," Maria responded. "This song was a lullaby that I used to sing to Giygas while I cared for him on the Flagship of the PSI Alien fleet. It goes like this:

_Take a melody_

_Simple as can be._

_Give it some words_

_And sweet harmony._

_Raise your voices_

_All day long now_

_Love grows strong now_

_Sing a melody of love, oh love._

When the song was over, she asked, "Did you get that?"

"Yes," Ness replied.

"Very well," Maria started. "Sing it back to me.

"Take a melody, simple as can be. Give it some words and sweet harmony. Raise your voices all day long now love grows strong now, sing a melody of love, oh love," Ness spoke, consciously making sure not to alter the pitch of his voice at all. It sounded almost robotic. Maria was not amused and she gave a frown.

"What's the problem?" she asked, annoyed.

"I hate singing," Ness replied. "I can take listening to it, at times, but I can't stand having to sing at all."

"Giygas is not someone who can be defeated by raw power," Maria warned, thinking that Ness was not taking the threat Giygas posed seriously. "Despite everything he may have said and done during my fight with him, I know that there is still good in Giygas. If there wasn't, I would have died in my fight against him. That song can reach it and hopefully let him remember his bond with me. Please don't just blow it off because you don't like singing," Maria begged.

"I won't," Ness relented. "But I also don't think that a simple song would have any effect on him now. It may even make him mad."

"Just don't forget the song. If nothing else works, it may be your only hope."

"I understand," Ness assured her. "And I won't forget the song." He still did not think that the song would be effective against Giygas, though, had he been alive. Ness wondered if he should tell Maria that Giygas did launch an attack on Earth and that Giygas had destroyed his mind, becoming the Embodiment of Evil in the process, and that he had been killed by the prayers of the people of the Earth. He refrained from doing so. It was clear that Maria still loved Giygas, despite everything Giygas had said and done during their battle, and he did not want to risk her bond with him, especially since Giygas would not attack again in Maria's lifetime, as far as he knew.

After that brief discussion and final lesson, Ness went to board the Phase Distorter. As he approached it, George went over and said, "Okay Ness, I've modified the Phase Distorter so that it will take you back to the time you left from. However, the same amount of time that passed for you here will have passed between your disappearance and reappearance in the future. If there was an alien invasion in the future, then you may be in for a fight when you arrive. Not only that, but the tracking device will reactivate when you activate the Phase Distorter. The PSI Aliens may be able to track you to Earth in your time."

Ness shrugged. "I suspected as much." It did not bother him, though. He felt that he could handle whatever his enemies threw at him.

Ness then went over to George and handed him the energy rifle that George had given him for the adventure. George was more likely to need it than Ness. If the PSI Aliens returned in their lifetime, George and Maria would need all the weapons and power they could get. George graciously accepted the energy rifle back. Ness then turned to board the Phase Distorter. Before he closed the hatch, George called out, "Hey, thanks for helping me rescue Maria."

"You're welcome," was Ness's response. He then called out to Maria. "And Mrs. Maria, thank you for teaching me how to better control my psychic power. I will remember you both and also what I have learned."

Maria smiled and waved at Ness as the hatch to the Phase Distorter closed. Upon having the hatch close, the Phase Distorter began to hum. Lightning then arced across its hull once more for a few seconds before the craft disappeared and took Ness to the future.

Maria and George stood by the lake for a few more seconds. "That boy has incredible power, and even greater potential," George said. "He may one day even be able to match the powers of a fully grown PSI Alien."

"Yes," Maria responded quietly. "But he is still holding back a lot of his power. There's still a block somewhere in his mind that's preventing him from reaching his full potential. Once he breaks through that block, though, he will be nigh unstoppable, especially by any current human force."

George did not know whether to be hopeful or terrified, for he knew the old saying: _power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely_. He then turned and said to Maria, "Well, I have to get back down to the lab. With ADAM, CAIN, and ABEL gone, the only robot I have left to fight the PSI Aliens is EVE. I have to begin modifying her to make her better able to fight them as soon as…" but Maria covered his lips with two of her fingers.

"No, husband," Maria told him. "First, we need to do something else." She then smiled seductively and motioned for him to take her to the old cabin so that they could rekindle their marriage. And George had no complaints putting the finishing touches on EVE on hold.

In the far reaches of space, on the other side of the universe, Giygas stood inside his new quarters, looking over all of the reports regarding the strength of human psychics, as well as the technology level of Earth, and its rate of advancement. Papers and metallic data pads were strewn all over the young PSI Alien's desk as he continued studying all of the knowledge that the PSI Aliens had managed to gain on the human race. He quickly realized that they were a disjointed and non-unified race of people. They were also a race of opposites. On one hand, they could commit acts of horrible brutality and evil, yet on the other hand, they could show kindness beyond anything he had ever known could exist. These dichotomies were what made humanity so confusing to Giygas. As he was about to take a rest, he felt a presence in the doorway to his quarters. Turning around, he saw his father, Goog.

"What are you doing, my son?" Goog asked.

Giygas sighed. "I am reading up on everything we have on humans," he responded, putting down the data pad that he had been reading. "I need to know everything I can about them if I am going to lead a successful invasion of the Earth."

"The invasion of Earth is not necessary, my son; at least not yet, anyway," Goog said in a paternal tone. "There are several more planets that need to be conquered or destroyed first, and we still have our war against the Magic Lords to fight. Our fleet has been called back to aid the rest of our kind in the RW235 Galaxy. The Magic Lords, or Dragon Lords as they are now calling themselves, have launched an all out offensive on our homeworld and we must defend it."

"Then take your fleet and go," Giygas told him. "But I'm staying. I have to destroy the humans of Earth. I must be the one to do it, and I must do it soon."

Goog looked concerned for his son. "Don't worry, Earth will be destroyed in its time. Until then, we have more pressing matters that need our concern."

"I told you that you can go," Giygas said in a perturbed voice. "Take the fleet to aid our homeworld. I will remain here and plan the invasion of Earth."

"You cannot do so alone," Goog contested. "I will give you the Mother Ship and all of its non-PSI Alien personnel to assist you."

"Thank you, Father," Giygas said graciously, meaning every word.

"You do know that once we leave, you'll be on your own when dealing with Earth," his father warned. "You do know that you won't have any reinforcements to speak of. Right?"

"I do," Giygas responded in a low voice. "Don't worry, Father. I have some plans of my own."

"Very well," Goog said. "I shall give you the Mother Ship and its entire non-PSI Lord crew. I will even bring in Last Starmen to replace the PSI Lord crewmembers." He then turned around and left Giygas alone in his quarters, the doors sliding to a close.

When his father was gone, he went over to wait for the PSI Lords to leave his ship. He then began to think of ways to increase the fighting effectiveness of his rank and file soldiers so that they would be more useful during the invasion.


End file.
